Always Gold
by AquarianHeart
Summary: Everything begins to change for the Marauders and their friends as their Seventh year arrives. Murmurs of war become tangible at Hogwarts, secrets come to light and relationships flare like never before as they find their worlds being turned upside down.
1. The Journey Back

A/N: Welcome to my story! The Marauders Era is my most favorite to write in, and this story will chronicle their seventh year through to graduation.

The first few chapters are meant to introduce you to the characters first and foremost, so please don't be alarmed if the mystery plot-y goodness seems to take a bit longer to come into play – trust me, it's there! Keep reading!

Have fun reading and please feel free to leave reviews, because any author claiming to not care about them is telling a vicious, vicious lie.

-A.H.

 _"Bring her to me!" a cloaked figure demands, holding a struggling boy up by the collar of his shirt. "Tell me where she is hiding!"_

 _"I won't," the boy says, gritting his teeth as the figure slaps him across the face, the blow drawing blood. He punches back, startling the figure._

 _"Surrender, traitor!" the figure growls pitilessly, his wand aimed directly in the boy's bloodied and bruised face._

 _"Never," the boy snarls, baring fang-like teeth. "I'd sooner die,"_

 _"That can be arranged," the figure whispers in rage, setting him down suddenly and letting him fall backwards. He slowly paces in a circle around the boy, reveling in the fear in his eyes._

 _"You will bring her to me, or I will strip you of every last thing that you love," the figure says callously and steadily.._

 _"Go ahead, I'd like to see you try, the boy responds boldly._

 _But before the figure can respond, the boy smiles, a wide, grinning , defiant smile, and there is a puff of smoke and confusion and the last thing the figure sees is a large animal galloping away from him, reflected in the moon above.  
_

"Rora! Rora? Rora."

My eyes snap open to the blinding light streaming into my large attic bedroom. I quickly spring up, as if shocked by electric current, glancing at the dusty metal clock at my bedside. It is flanked by a tiny potted plant and handheld telescope, and I realize I had neglected to set its alarm the night before. With much chagrin, I read half past six on its face.

"Merlin, I overslept!" I hiss to myself as I sit up and pull my long chestnut hair up into a top knot and throw off my lumpy lavender duvet. I bemoan its lost cozy warmth for only a moment before my excitement returns and I slip her feet into a pair of worn slippers and bound down the stairs outside my bedroom door.

My father is already in the brightly lit kitchen, whipping up breakfast with his wand. He has managed to simultaneously direct a skillet full of sizzling eggs on the stove whilst conjuring an assembly line of beans spreading themselves on enchanted-flame toasted bread. I walk over and snatch one of the pieces from midair before taking a seat at the large oak table in the center of the kitchen. My mother is beside me, already keenly surveying the morning post. Her brow is furrowed, in either concentration or concern, but she immediately brightens up and folds the paper away when she spots me.

"Morning sweetums," Dad greets me and hands me a piping cup of tea."Late night?" I narrow my eyes as I take the mug.

"Maybe," I respond. I may or may not have spent the majority of the previous night up finishing off the last of my summer assignments. Though normally a decent student, procrastination had taken its toll this summer with the advent of dreaded summer homework. With NEWTs approaching this coming term, my Astronomy professor had set all incoming seventh years this joyful task.

"I'm sure the stars will thank you for all your careful observation," My dad winks and gave a boom of a laugh. Mum pushes a plate of newly placed eggs towards me,

"Eat, you need protein," I dig in, barely breathing between mouthfuls. I had less than twenty minutes to get ready now, and there was no way I'd be late to the most exciting day of the year.

"Don't choke yourself, love." Dad chides merrily as he comes to join Mum and me at the table. "Can't-Late-Need-Pack!" I say in between chews. And indeed, my trunk waiting upstairs was only half full.

"Well you can't very well get to Hogwarts if you're dead from choking, Rora," Mum scolds. But I just give her a goofy grin as I finish off my plate and dash back up the stairs to finish packing.

I begin to gather my things, mostly haphazardly strewn about my bedroom. I grab my telescope kit from my windowsill and place it in my trunk on top of my various robes, books and personal effects. I top it off with my giant collection of constellation charts, which clatter as they enter. Scurrying over to my desk, I begin to stuff the loose papers and parchment clippings into my leather bound notebook. My hand passes by a stack of letters from friends that I had shoved to the corner, and I smile lightly to myself as my eyes scan the various senders' names…S. Black, P. Pettigrew, E. Vance…M. Pine, R. Lupin, among others. My heart thrills at the thought of seeing my schoolmates again. Though we had made grand plans to meet up over the summer, physical proximity (and James' family's annoying propensity to spend summers on the coast) hadn't allowed for it much. But I would be seeing them again in just a few short hours. And with that I gather the rest of the papers and dump them into my trunk and snap the lid shut.

The sound disturbs my pet owl, Ophelia, who had been snoozing peaceful on her perch in the corner of my room before my loud racket woke her. She gives an annoyed series of hoots and flaps her wings in irritation.

"Oh shush, Ophy, we're going to Hogwarts!"

The late summer air is crisp and chilly as I step out of the taxi car in front of the towering entrance to Kings Cross train station in London three hours later, my wooden trunk and Ophelia in tow behind me. Mum and Dad are frantically attempting to locate my train ticket as we walk through the archway (Mum had insisted that I would lose it immediately if she gave it to me too early, and had kept it to herself) and I am trying to ignore their bickering as we approach the platform portal. But their grumpiness won't stifle my joy and excitement as I furtively glance around at the passing Muggles, wondering if I might run into classmates or friends on the way to the platform. Rolling my trunk at a gainful pace, I find my way to the brick partition separating platforms 9 and 10. But I stop in my tracks as it comes into view; usually the barrier was uncrowded (for there were undoubtedly enchantments that subconsciously drew Muggles to stay away and certainly any magic folk wouldn't loiter there for long). But instead, I notice a figure dressed in the awkward fashion sense usually reserved to wizards trying to mimic Muggle clothing. It is a tall man with the unmistakable look of a person trying to appear casual.

"Ministry officer," I hear my dad explain to my mother behind me. I furrow my brow. Extra security?

"Must be because of the current happenings," I hear Mum respond, and I tense up. The attacks had been growing in frequency lately. But mostly they were isolated events. Would a Death Eater really attack students on their way to school?

Once we reach the partition, my Dad nods his head in greeting and says, "Beautiful morning, isn't it?" to the man. He is silent in response as Dad surreptitiously holds out my Hogwarts Express ticket, then gives a short nod and gestures for us to continue. I shyly keep my head down, staring curiously at the wizard before I take a deep breath, and lunge forward at a steady jog, bounding headlong into the wall.

Suddenly, I find myself in the crowded midst of the Hogwarts Express. Mum and Dad clamor in behind me.

"Was that necessary?" I ask my Dad as we walk towards the end of the train where it was customary of the new Seventh years to coalesce.

"Better safe than sorry, I reckon," Dad shrugs but I notice him and Mum exchange an uncomfortable glance.

"Strange that the school didn't owl the parents about it, though…"

As we move through the crowds of people saying their goodbyes, I am scanning the throngs of people surrounding us.

"Rora dear, are you meeting Marigold and Emmeline?" Mum asks from behind me, no doubt noticing my expression. She was referring to my two best friends in Gryffindor Tower, whom I had been glued to since second year when our dormitories had been rearranged due to a student leaving to be homeschooled and us finding ourselves with a whole room to just the three of us. Luckily we had managed to keep our arrangement for the years following.

But before I can respond, a familiar voice beckons me to turn around. "Hey Rora! Over here!"

I smile and turn around to see the tall form of Sirius Black, grey eyes alight with excitement and clutching a brown leather rucksack, sauntering over to me. His black hair is longer than it was last term, falling to nearly the shoulders of his pale blue sweater. James Potter is right beside him, as he often was, his hair slightly (yet purposefully) mussed. James looks much the same as he did when I left them last spring; tall and lean with thick round frames settled on his face.

"There you blokes are!" I say as Sirius pulls me into a quick hug when we reach each other. "I thought maybe you'd skipped off this year when I didn't see you at the gate," I tease.

"Our last year at Hogwarts?" Sirius asks smoothly as he releases me. "Never." I survey him for a moment. He looks different than what I remember from the end of last term. Was he taller? I couldn't place it.

"And me being Head Boy and all," James adds nonchalantly, with a smug but humorous smirk on his face. I notice a shiny badge glistening on his chest.

I raise my eyebrows in surprise. "You got Head Boy?" James was not one to be called a professors favorite (except perhaps McGonagall); I sometimes thought him and the rest of the Marauders spent more time in detention than they did actually studying. Thought to be fair they always somehow managed to pull good marks by the end of each term.

"I can't say I'm not surprised," I say, peering my head in closer to examine the badge. It really was legitimate, with an intricate golden Gryffindor lion etched behind the letters H.B.

"I was more shocked than you!" Remus Lupin has joined us now, lugging his and Peter Pettigrew's trunks behind him. Peter gives me a giddy grin in greeting and I smile in return.

"Jealous, more like," Sirius says playfully, placing a dramatic hand over his chest. "Your heart was wounded, when Dumbledore overlooked you,"

"Oh shove it Pads," Remus says darkly. "I don't see you milking the rewards of being so well-liked at school either."

"True, but I have other ways of reaping the benefits of a good reputation," Sirius smirks.

"Um, Rora dear, shall we see you off, then?" Dad has edged back to me and injected into the circle.

"Oh- Of course. Miss you already," I say as I pull him in for a tight hug. He strokes my hair for a moment before my Mum takes her turn.

"Good luck darling. Study well!" She says, and kisses my cheek. She is grasping me tightly, and I fear she won't let go, so I gently pull myself away with a smile. "I'll see you for Christmas before you know it, Mum, don't worry," I smile and wave them off before returning to the boys, still chattering behind me. I notice Sirius is staring at me funnily.

"Those your parents?" he asks, gesturing to my Mum and Dad's backs as they step back to the group of waiting parents near the side of the platform.

"Oh, yeah," I shrug sheepishly. "They can be a bit overbearing, really,"

"No, they seem lovely," he says quietly as James pushes him around towards the train car.

"Let's get seats, mate." James urges. "They're going to start filling up and I'll not be stuck next to Francis Mulstrode this year…"

"Good summer?" Remus asks me as we climb aboard, leaving our trunks and things with the train staff.

"Same old same old," I answer with a shrug. "I'm thrilled to be headed back. How was your blokes' summers?"

Sirius' face goes blank in a guarded expression I have come to recognize, and he mirrors my shrug. "Same, really. I survived."

"Well mine was splendid," James adds quickly. "Can't believe my nights will be spent studying for NEWTS and lessons soon enough,"

"Not if I can help it," Sirius answers with a playful expression on his face. "I've already got a few things planned…"

"As do I Pads," James says. "You have no idea. All that time at home has conjured some brilliance,"

"Well you better tread carefully, seeing as you're Head Boy now," Remus warns, but he's half joking.

"Oh Moony, always the voice of reason!" James says, but then scoffs, "I'm not worried."

"You Marauders never change, do you?" I sigh with a smirk.

"Not for the world," Sirius smiles.

Just then, I hear my name being called, for what seems like the hundredth time today, from behind me.

"Aurora! Rora! Aurora Mockinglow!"

I turn to finally see Marigold and Emmeline hurrying from the other side of the train corridor, shuffling between students to reach us. I had almost forgotten about them in my excitement.

"Over here!" I wave to them with a smile. Marigold beams as she strides over and greets us, hopping up and down on the balls of her feet, causing her soft golden curls to bounce up and down. She gives me a hug. Emmeline, slender and raven-headed with a sharp no-nonsense fringe, reaches around and joins our embrace.

"James reckon they'll start snogging if we egg them on?" I hear Peter murmur sarcastically to the side. Remus, James and Sirius erupt into riotous laughter.

But Emmeline, in her cool deadpan tone, turns to him and says, "Watch it Pettigrew, or do I have to remind you of that time I cursed you in third year?"

This shuts Peter up, though he clearly is stifling more giggles. "You know I've missed you girls, for some reason,"

"It has been too long," Remus agrees.

"Only all summer!" Marigold gives him a pointed but amused glare."You lazy gits couldn't come up to London to meet us?"

"Well we told Rora and you lot to come round!" James defends himself. "I was always game for a visit."

"Yes, which is nice and all except for the fact that you live in Godric's Hollow in the middle of bloody nowhere," Emmeline points out. "And spent half the summer in on the beach!" I add.

"It's the thought that counts," James says, waving her off. "Mind moving along?" a fourth year boy's shrill voice comes from behind us. We must have been causing a roadblock of students in our excitement. The boy's plump face is red and he is pulling along an overstuffed suitcase behind him. Several students are backed up behind him, clearly miffed.

"Look lad, I'm Head Boy, and I say when we move along, right?" James snaps as he rolls his eyes and turns back around.

"Don't listen to him. He's Head Git, more accurately," Sirius says. The boy furrows his brow, evidently unamused.

"Oi! Move it along!" another shout comes from somewhere in the back.

"Alright, alright! We're moving!" says Remus hastily, with an apologetic shrug to the boy as we all begrudgingly clamor down the corridor and begin the search for empty seats.

"You'd think the young ones would respect the authority of a group of Seventh Years, but no, eh?" James mutters as we find a row that is miraculously unoccupied in the crowded mayhem and set up opposite each other.

"With an attitude like that, you're bound to win hearts, Prongs," Remus scolds but James shrugs it off.

We settle ourselves in our seats and I find I am wedged between Emmeline and Marigold, across from Sirius, Remus, James and Peter. With a steam-laden whistle, the train lurches to a start suddenly. My stomach feels funny, almost a nervous excitement. James leans out the train window to wave goodbye to his parents on the platform. I catch a glimpse of my parents, who have evidently lingered behind to see the train off. I give them a farewell wave. Sirius sits, suddenly intent on reading a magazine he pulled from inside his robes. His long hair has fallen across his face.

"What's that?" inquires Emmeline.

"Music Magic, issue 37," Sirius says without looking up. "The Gargoyles announced some new gigs in London, there's one when we're on Christmas break. Reckon we can make it, James?"

"For The Gargoyles? Absolutely we can make it. I'd skive my own bloody coronation for those blokes," James grabs the magazine ad, featuring a quintet of wizards in black leather and face makeup.

"Their new record is phenomenal," I say. "Got a copy over summer,"

Sirius's face turns to me, "Best bloody album of the year,"

"Nah, I reckon The Hangleton Three's was better," Peter says. And this causes the group to launch into an involved argument about wizard music.

"The real underdog here is Gillyweed-"

"Nah, mate, The Gargoyles' lyrics are superior, plus it sounds bloody good when you play it in an empty stone cavern-"

"And where the bloody hell will I find an empty stone cavern to listen to a record in?"

"Well you're just not adventurous enough-"

As the group continues to bicker (now arguing over whether Bloodthirsty Banshees had sold out), Sirius leans over to me and asks, "So you want to join us, then? For the Gargoyles gig?"

"This December? Yeah!" I enthusiastically reply. "If I can find my way to London, that is,"

"Come stay with James and I," Sirius answers simply, "We can all Apparate over together. Problem solved."

"Wait where are you and James staying in London over Christmas?" I inquire, confused. I had assumed James would be going back to Godric's Hollow for the holidays like he did ever year, and Sirius to his family's London townhouse.

Sirius' looks furtively over to the rest of the group, who are still deep in the throws of their music argument, before nearly whispering to me. "I'm getting my own flat. James' parents are going to help me sort it out over Christmas,"

My eyes widen. Sirius moving out already? Before graduating? "But what did your parents say-" I say, but before I can continue, Marigold gives a loud shriek. "Everyone look! It's the new first years!" We all cane our necks to see a gaggle of very nervous looking children being ushered down the corridor by a Fifth year Prefect.

"Ah, so young," Remus says with a nostalgic glance.

"There so small, aww! Ickle firsties." Emmeline adds.

"And so naïve and innocent, " James muses.

"And corruptible…" Sirius adds with a devilish grin towards me. I look into his eyes, studying them. I think he senses my concern because he turns to Peter instead.

"Remember when that was us, Pete?" Sirius asks with a grin.

"I can't believe it's our last year," Peter says.

"Me neither," James says, his eyes faraway. "We have got to make this year one to remember."

"We will, Prongsie, don't you worry," Sirius assures him with a haughty smile.

"So what NEWTS are you lots taking this year?" Remus asks me.

"Astronomy is my focus, but I'll be taking Charms, Potions and Arithmancy alongside," I explain. I wanted to work at the Magical Center for Celestial Observation in London after Hogwarts and study the stars and distant galaxies.

"I hope they don't give me Ancient Runes again, this year," James moans. Somehow, the last two years in a row, James had inexplicably been placed in Ancient Runes on his timetable, his most loathed subject, and had to suffer through a week before a fixed schedule could be processed and switched around for him.

"May as well choose it for your NEWT focus, mate," Sirius goads.

"I will sooner jump arse-naked into the lake," James says.

"Oh, but haven't you already?" Marigold says, referring to an infamous Halloween game of dare last year. We all laugh heartily at the memory.

"I may never get the image of Prong's freezing arse cheeks out from my brain," says Sirius, fighting back bark-like giggles. "And frankly I don't want to."

"Should've given you the nickname Moony, if you ask me," Peter adds. I snort loudly at this and James rolls his eyes at us.

"You lot are just jealous," James drawls.

"Yeah, yeah Prongs," Remus mutters with a smile, as he takes out a fresh copy of The Daily Prophet from his back pocket. "Anything in the news?" I ask, leaning over to read the headlines. Remus is silent, his eyes downcast as examines the front page. Suddenly his expression falters and is replaced by dark concern. "Blimey, more deaths." My gaze follows his and I see a large headline reading, THREE FOUND DEAD IN SOUTHAMPTON. DARK WIZARDRY AT PLAY?

The group quiets. The last year had seen bizarre happenings and mysterious disappearances across the Wizarding community. Our summers, filled with holidays and lazing around our homes, had separated us from these new stories for the most part, it seemed. But there was the uneasy feeling that their seriousness was growing.

"What happened this time?" Emmeline asks quietly. Her dark eyes are full of concern.

"Three found killed this morning. Death Eater muggle attacks, allegedly…" Remus replies, but then quickly folds up the paper and stows it back in his pocket.

"Right," James whispers, all signs of jest now erased from his face. "I'm surprised my parents didn't say anything, they must have read the post this morning," I say, thinking back to breakfast. Mum had seemed distracted. Suddenly, her extra-long hug back at the station seemed to make sense.

We remain quiet. I gaze out of the window again, not really seeing the blurred trees and farmland whizzing past. When I look back Sirius is staring at me. We exchange a glance, silently surveying one another. There is a kind of sadness in his eyes. There is undoubtedly concern in mine. I am well aware who is family is. And what side they're on. Our mood lifts, however, when the sweets trolly reaches our compartment, and we are glad for a distraction. The jolly witch operating it hands us multicolored candies and snacks in exchange for our coins and we dig into the splendor. I for one am thrilled to satisfy my summer-long cravings for wizard chocolates. Living in a Muggle suburb at home had its cons, and the short supply of wizard candies was one of them. We spend the rest of the train journey chatting and snacking, hardly noticing the slowly setting sun. Soon, the stars and moon have come out and a sharp knock on our compartment door snaps us back to reality. We look up to see a auburn-haired form, already changed into her uniform topped with a shiny badge.

"Blimey, it's Lily," James hastily shifts in his seat to brush off the stray candy wrappers and stands to open the door of the compartment, mussing up his jetblack hair as he does.

"Evans?" James asks suavely. Lily gives us all a quick smile in greeting before turning to James. "The Heads are needed at the front to assist with the unloading,"

Sirius cocks his head in confusion. "Heads? You mean you're-"

"Head Girl, yes." Lily interjects, raising her brow. "And James is Head Boy. So shall we?" She turns back expectantly to James. The rest of us exchange raised eyebrows and smirks as James turns to us to give an apologetic expression before grabbing his things and following Lily out the door.

"Well that is going to be interesting," Remus comments. "Oh I can't wait for them to kill each other," Peter says with a laugh.

"Did James not tell you all?" Marigold asks. "Although, its hardly a surprise that Lily got the position, anyway."

"Didn't mention it to me at all," Sirius says, looking a bit hurt. "The git barely wrote me all summer,"

"I guess Brighton was more fun than us," Remus agreed.

"Wait James was in Brighton this summer, then?" Emmeline inquires. "I overheard Evans talking about vacationing there this summer, too,"

All of our heads snap towards Emmeline at this. "I may have been eavesdropping a bit over at the baggage hand-off, her and Marlene were there…" she smirks sheepishly.

"You don't think they ran into each other, do you?" Peter asks.

Sirius looks greatly concerned at this. "If he ditched me to shag Evans all summer, I swear I will curse his ruddy are so fast-"

Remus gives a sharp laugh and interrupts him. "I highly doubt that, Pads, they probably didn't even see each other. Brighton is a large area…let's get changed, we're nearly there," This thought seems to comfort Sirius for the moment as we all take the cue to rise and begin gathering our robes.

Soon after, when we finally reach the Hogsmeade station, we gather our things and join the throngs of emerging students clambering from the train carriages into horseless carriages waiting at the edge of the forest. The night air is alight with an energetic excitement as we make our way from the tiny village by the trees and up to the shimmering castle on the cliffside. I stare at the warmly lit windows and sloping turrets and sigh in relief.

When we make it to the entrance, we are quickly ushered through the imposing stone Entry Hall where Professor McGonagall is directing students along to the doors leading to the Great Hall for the feast.

"Ah, so good to be back home," Sirius sighs as he looks up at the high ceiling above, draped with richly colored tapestries. I smile and reply, "It is, isn't it?"

"Potter! James Potter!" we hear Professor McGonagall call when our huddle approaches the doors. We look over to see James and Lily awkwardly standing side by side, pointing the younger students in the right direction.

"Yes Professor?" James replies, looking back at her in confusion.

"As Head Boy, please stay behind and help me acclimate the new first years!" she orders sternly, gesturing for him to come up to join her. "And good heavens, they're due any moment. Move along, Mockinglow, Black, Pine, and the rest of you! I need you all seated before the first years come in!"

We all reluctantly make our way to the Gryffindor table. I gaze up at the enchanted ceiling, which shows a clear and vibrant sky full of bright stars and the risen crescent moon. As we walk along the tables, I spot many familiar faces.

When we find our usual position at the table (in the middle, on the right hand bench) I sit between Emmeline and Marigold while Sirius, Peter and Remus sit ahead of us. The sturdy golden plates in front of us are bare. Peter's stomach growls audibly.

"I hope the Sorting goes by quick, I'm starved," Peter mumbles, glaring longingly at the empty trays at the middle of the table, beside the adorned centerpieces made of pine branches and candles in the colors of our House.

"It very well might, there are less First Years this term," Remus says with a frown. We all look at him with confused glances.

"I overheard McGonagall telling James," Remus explains, running a hand through his sand-colored hair. "But it makes sense. I doubt muggle parents would trust magic folk, what with the current…situation."

Most of the students have taken their seats now, and the staff have arrived as well. I spot Dumbledore, wearing a tall spangled hat that matched his shimmering golden robes. "Ems, you never said how your holiday went?" Marigold asks. Emmeline just shrugs as she plays with a stray fork, poking it at the centerpiece.

"Paris is beautiful! But that's nothing new," she says casually, but her face has slowly turned a glowing red. Marigold raises an eyebrow and prods her further.

"Did you meet any fit Parisian wizards?" she asks eagerly, with an impish and highly suggestive grin. Emmeline seems to sink down in her seat a bit as her blush intensifies. "Maybe. I don't know."

Marigold practically shrieks as she laughs and exclaims, "I knew it! You are spilling once we get up to the dormitories!"

"What's this? Who shagged who?" Sirius leans over, cupping his ear in jest. Emmeline blushes furiously, and stabs the fork fully into the poor thistle's branch. "I will murder you in your sleep, Goldilocks," But Marigold finds this hilarious, "Too bad! I will find out, one way or another!"

The talking in the Hall instantly quiets as a loud creaking sound comes from behind us. We all turn to direct our attention towards the doors, as they open to reveal two neat lines of very small, very scared looking first years. McGonagall, James and Lily are behind them, ushering them along towards the front of the Hall to be Sorted.

Lily's face has reddened since we left them, but James looks as suave and confident as ever.

Sirius leans over to whisper to me, just as Dumbledore, clothed in shining golden robes, rises to welcome the new students. "This is going to be a great year."

Just before Dumbledore opens his mouth to address the Hall, the tall doors loudly open again, this time revealing an imposing looking group of black-robed witches and wizards. There is a chorus of whispers as the group walks down the aisle towards the staff. We all share confused looks as Dumbledore nods to them and opens his arms in a welcoming gesture. "Ah! Rodney! Blackburne!" Dumbledore's voice booms through the room.

"How grand of you to join us with your company. Please sit," Dumbledore guides the group to a set of empty chairs at the end of the staff table that I hadn't noticed before. "Now," the Headmaster begins, turning back to address our curious faces.

"Students. Welcome! As you might have surmised, we will be joined this term by a these Ministry Aurors." There is another eruption of whispers in response. I crane my neck to glance at the staff, many of whom seem just as surprised as us. McGonagall is alone in her stern, unchanged expression, staring straight ahead and giving the Hall a collective warning look. Dumbledore waits for our whispers to subside before continuing. "Given recent events, the Hogwarts staff have found it necessary to bring in this fine company to ensure the safety of our students, as that will always be our priority in turbulent times such as these,"

"I figured we'd have something like this happen," Remus mutters to us. "It was only a matter of time,"

"But do not fret," Dumbledore continues. "Though dark is the night, the sun is never far. Hogwarts is a safe haven, and I, nor any of our staff, will lapse in our efforts to keep it as such. You all will be in good hands and trust your school term full of as much wonderment, studiousness and frivolity as ever."

"He's right about that," Sirius mutters to me.

Dumbledore's voice turns into a singsong cadence as he raises his hands, "And the wheel turns ever on. So let us celebrate this new term and welcome our newest witches and wizards!"

Dumbledore is beaming as he returns to his chair and gestures for the Sorting to begin. But I am barely paying attention as the First Years trickle nervously up to the front, James and Lily guiding them to where McGonagall has placed the old tattered hat upon a small wooden stool.

"You reckon the Aurors are going to interfere with any classes? Why do we need them anyway? Hogwarts is impenetrable from apparition," I hear Peter whisper to Remus to his side.

"We can't be sure yet. But if Dumbledore brought them in, it must be for good reason," Remus answers, worry etched across his face.

My chest tightens. Suddenly the warm feeling I had sustained all day at the thought of returning to school fades slightly. Things would be different this term. And I wasn't sure what to make of it.


	2. Hold Onto Your Bonnets

I am curled up in an oversized armchair in front on the Common Room fire, papers and book sprawled out in front of me. Outside, the sky is a gloomy grey, and the windows are speckled with droplets of rain. It had been three weeks since the night of the bonfire, and already the sweet freedoms of summer had altogether dwindled and our schoolwork was in full swing.

"So you haven't finished your Charms essay yet, young lady?" Sirius says in mock disproval, even adding a tut tut for good measure. He has just appeared from the top of the dormitory staircase.

"I ought to tell Lightfoot about this. And class starts in a mere forty-five minutes, at that."

"I know," I say sheepishly. "But I was up at the Astronomy Tower all night charting," I yawn audibly and stretch out. I am still in my pajamas, having had to skip breakfast and lunch to finish. Preparing for my Astronomy NEWTS was proving to be extremely time consuming, on top of my other lessons.

"You spend way too much time up there in that tower," Sirius chides, moving down the steps and over to sit next to me. He plops down on a large red cushiony chair.

"And I suppose you've finished it then?" I say with an expectant smirk, still not taking my eyes off my essay as I struggle to edit the last bits. My knuckles are smeared with ink and my hair, previously pulled in a tidy knot at the top of my head, has loosened and tendrils are falling over my cheeks.

"Of course!" he scoffs with a haughty smile, as he leans back and props his legs up. "Got it done ages ago."

"Naturally." I mutter.

"What are you doing still in the common room? Didn't want lunch?" "

Nah, overslept," Sirius answers with a yawn.

"Overslept? Sirius, you are aware its half past one, right?"

But he only shrugs with a smile. "I don't have morning lessons on Fridays,"

There is a sudden scraping noise as three boys came crawling through the opening portrait hole, chattering loudly. It's Remus, James and Peter, no doubt returning from the lunch I was missing. James has in his hands a large paper sack filled with Merlin-knows-what and is arguing with Peter about something. Remus is silently following, looking bored, and running a hand through his sandy blonde hair.

"No Peter, The Popping Whiz Cricket is the one that sends off the green and yellow sparks while emitting loud popping sound effects, not the Everlasting Pumpkin Blaster." James was saying. "Get your fireworks straight. If we're going to pull this right, you have to know these things…"

"Sorry, I'll remember next time," Peter mutters, his face slightly downcast.

"So we are doing it then?" Sirius asks excitedly, jumping up the meet his friends. "Tonight?"

James' hazel eyes seem to blaze with devious excitement. He nods and licks his bottom lip. He squeezes the bag in his hand and I have the funny feeling that I know what is stowed inside it.

"First prank of the year, then?" I crane my head over to attempt to see the contents of the bag, but James hugs it closer to himself territorially.

"You bet your button nose it is," he responds with a smirk.

Remus snorts as he sits down next to Sirius and I on a chair. He gazes over at me, and my ink splattered roll of hastily scrawled parchment.

"Oh Aurora, you misspelled a word there…." He mutters, pointing to the middle of my essay. I spot it and quickly take out my wand to remedy it.

"Thanks Remus," I say with a grateful look.

The four of them continue to talk about their grand scheme for several moments. I am only half-listening.

"James, you really should be cautious. You don't want to lose your Head Boy badge." I hear Remus warn, scratching his head and looking over the diagram James has whipped up. Peter nods in agreement.

"Yeah James, this might be the last straw for the staff…" Peter agrees hesitantly.

"Oh come now, you both are losing your touch," James says as he waves them off. "The staff finds our stunts just as funny as us, they just punish us for show."

Remus purses his lips. "I'm just saying, be careful this year."

"Careful is not what we're going for," James retorts. "It's our last chance to be irresponsible twats before the crushing weight of reality hits. We have to go out with a bang."

I laugh at this and add, "You lot have already made history, need you outdo yourself?"

"Of course," James answers, rising now. "We are the Marauders!"

I laugh again and rise myself, rolling up my parchment and stuffing it hastily into my bookbag. "You blokes take yourself way too seriously,"

"Well, we've got to. Who else would provide the school with such supreme entertainment?" Sirius points out with a wink as runs a hand through his mane of hair. I roll my eyes.

"Well in any case, we've got to go to the grounds for more…collecting," James says. And him and Peter begin to gather their things and head toward the portrait hole again. Sirius stays seated. "You go ahead mates, I'm gonna hang back. I've got Charms with Rora."

James narrows his eyes, "Well fine, but we've got to reconvene tonight before dinner!"

"Okay Prongs, we'll go to the usual place," Sirius answers exasperatedly. James seems satisfied with this answer, and I, used to this type of secrecy talk around this group, am unfazed.

They leave and I am left standing, holding my schoolwork as Sirius rises from his chair as well.

"Shall we?" he gestures towards the portrait hole.

"One minute, I've got to go change." I begin to walk up the staircase to my dormitory but suddenly, there is another loud sound as yet another student comes marching through the portrait hole. This time it's Marigold. She is obviously in a rush, her robes lazily opened to show her crisp white shirt and loose Gryffindor tie.

"Hey Aurora, ready to go to class?" Marigold asks. She looks up at me with her bright, blue, expectant eyes. Sirius is beside her but she barely notices for a moment. "I simply must get a good seat today. I want to be in the front!"

"What, why?" I ask in confusion. Though Marigold was no thickhead, she certainly would not be labeled the eager student type.

"There's a substitute! Lightfoot's out with some sort of pox and according to my Ravenclaw friend Clarice, he's new and young and completely gorgeous!" she explains excitedly, biting her lip in anticipation.

"That explains it," I mutter. It also explains why her robes are open and her skirt pulled ever so slightly up higher on her thighs.

Sirius rolls his eyes and says in high pitched voice dripping in sarcasm, "Oh goody!"

"Let's go, let's go, let's go!" she pulls my hand, paying him no heed. "We're going to be late!"

"By Merlin, give me one minute to change!" I say, and dash back up the stairs before she has a chance to trap me further. Once I'm in my room I hastily grab my usual skirt, shirt, tie and robes and throw them on. I then run back downstairs, grab my essay and backpack.

"Ooh I'm so excited!" Marigold exclaims as she grabs Sirius and I and leads us out of the portrait hole. I turn back to Sirius apologetically, "Yay?"

He just laughs and winks after me as we rush down the corridor.

When we enter the classroom, there is indeed a new professor standing at the head of the room, surveying the class as they shuffle around taking their seats. I notice that he is indeed handsome, in a harsh jawline sort of way, with dark blonde hair and piercing eyes. He is gazing calmly and coolly at us as we walk down the center aisle.

I make eye contact with Sirius and he feigns an exaggerated swoon and I choke back a giggle. Marigold has her gaze fixated towards the professor as she eagerly takes a seat in the very front and center row. I groan to myself as I reluctantly follow her to sit down. I was more of a middle of the seats type of student, but anything for a friend, right?

Sirius plops down beside me, lounging back in his seat. I glance furtively behind me to see many of the younger girls gazing longingly in front of them.

"Quiet down, class, quiet down," The new professor has finally spoken and the chatter dies down. I look up at him skeptically. His bright gray eyes are surveying the class with a strange sort of keenness.

"Now, my name is Professor Eddard Lancaster, and I will be filling in for Professor Lightfoot until the end of winter term." He has a tone of unmistakable self-importance as he speaks. Before continuing on, he starts to slowly pace up and down the aisles, making eye contact with each and every one of us. My chest tightens a bit as he passes.

"Professor Lightfoot is a gifted wizard, and I am sure he has taught you well," he continues. "But fret not, I assure you that I too am well studied in the art of Charms and you will certainly all be in good hands for the time being."

After he turns back to his desk in front, Sirius turns to me and whispers, "I bet Marigold hopes she'll be all over his hands." I nearly choke myself to death to keep from laughing.

Professor Lancaster's head snaps straight towards me. "Something funny?" His voice has gone deeper and commanding.

"Oh no, sorry sir," I mutter pathetically. I am now the center of attention. This is precisely a place I detest being. I swallow nervously.

"Mockinglow, is it?" He is smirking at me now, but something in his expression is lacking warmth.

"Um, yes. Aurora Mockinglow."

"Interesting," He says simply, his eyes piercing in mine. But without further comment, he promptly moves his glance away from mine and continues on, instructing us to open our textbooks to chapter seven. As the clamoring of students to get their supplies out distracts everyone, I take a moment to look at Sirius next to me. He's staring at Lancaster with as perplexed an expression as my own face undoubtedly held.

"What in Merlin's name was that about?" I whisper to him. He just shakes his head.

"What a bloody strange bloke, he is," Sirius mutters back. I can't help but agree.

Once the class all opens to the appropriate page, Lancaster has strolled back to the head of the room standing directly in front of us.

"What was your name, lad?" Lancaster asks Sirius now.

"Black. Sirius Black." Sirius answers casually, leaning haughtily back in his seat. He stares at Lancaster with his signature bored expression, a trait I always was impressed by. Sirius was impossible to intimidate.

"Ah, a Black. I know of your family, quite well actually," Lancaster says, a slight smile on his face.

Sirius just nods slowly back at him without reply.

"I trained with your cousin, Alistair. I'm sure you will be a gifted a wizard as he," Lancaster then turned to go retrieve something from his desk.

"Well that settles it then, I don't like this bloke," Sirius mutters to me with an unpleasant look on his face. I mirror his expression.

"Oh shush, you two are being ridiculous," Marigold hisses at us out of the corner of her mouth.

Lancaster has turned back to face the class now. He is clutching a large glass jar.

"So. Today's lesson will focus on strategic charms. Who here can demonstrate the proper technique for an entrapment charm?" he asks. I now notice that the jar is full of lightly fluttering butterflies. Beside me, Marigold's hand shoots straight up. When Lancaster's gaze falls upon her, he offers a cool smile at the sight of her, practically bouncing up and down in eagerness.

"Yes…miss…?"

"Marigold Pine, professor," Marigold answers as she rises from her seat, wand at the ready. I see her faintly straighten her posture so her chest pops out ever so slightly.

"Excellent Miss Pine." He gestures for her to stand in front of the class. She enthusiastically joins him in front and raises her wand, eye fixated on him instead of the jar where they ought to be.

"I'm ready, Professor."

"Alright Miss Pine, on my count…." He starts to unscrew the jar. The butterflies, who mere seconds before were docile and daintily batting their wings, now zoom angrily from the lip of the jar and out above our heads. Marigold hastily shoots her wand towards them, shouting out the incantation, Captanda! She manages to snare one in a web of purple sparks emitting from the tip of her wand. Two of the others continue to zoom over us.

"Very well done, Miss Pine, for your first try!" Lancaster beams at Marigold. She smiles back as she guides the ensnared butterfly back into his jar.

"Now, as Miss Pine so perfectly demonstrated, this charm can be used for ensnaring a target, and is useful for a variety of reasons…."

As Lancaster continues lecturing about the finer points of entrapment charms, I can't help but let my mind wander. Something about Lancaster rubbed me the wrong way, and I couldn't quite articulate what.

When it's finally time for class to end, Lancaster dismisses us with a perky reminder to start the three roll-long essay he had taken the liberty of assigning ("Seriously? On his first day teaching after we just turned in an essay?" I hear a student behind me whisper to himself in complaint) and I am just about ready to get the bloody hell out of there.

Marigold, however, is chipper as a chipmunk.

"Did you see him?" she croons as we exit out into the corridor. "He was totally staring at me the entire lesson,"

"Oh gross!" I groan and shake my head. "He's like ten years older than us, at least-"

"Doesn't bother me," she says with a devilish grin.

"Somehow I'm not surprised," Sirius mutters with a reluctant laugh.

"Oh don't even act like you didn't act the same way two years ago when Miss Feathers was teaching Herbology," Marigold teases.

Sirius's face changes into a dreamy expression as he reminisces. "Oh, that's right. I'd forgotten about her…and her bum."

"Sirius!" I swat him on the shoulder. "Ugh, you two make me sick." But I'm laughing now too, recalling how very dorkishly enamored James and Sirius had been with the fresh-out-of-school professor.

We reach the Hall of Portraits and I make to head up the spiral staircase towards the common room. Sirius, however, turns towards the great wooden doors leading to the grounds.

"I've got to go meet up with James," he explains. "Lots of preparation, you see."

I nod with a sly smile. "Oh naturally,"

"See you at dinner, then! Can't wait to see it…whatever it is!" Marigold calls after him as he nearly skips off towards the doors.

"What do you think they're going to do this time?" she wonders aloud to me as we ascend the stairs.

"Who could tell," I answer vaguely.

"Pass me the chicken,"

We are all seated in the Great Hall at dinner that night. I am nibbling at some butternut squash soup and roast chicken, feeling quite spent from the day of school. Something about Lancaster and the charms lesson that afternoon had thrown me off, and I had found myself preoccupied in the rest of my lessons.

I casually pass over the large platter of chicken to Sirius, who is seated beside me. As I do, I lean in towards his ear and whisper, "Are you going to do it soon?"

He just grins and answers quietly, "Only a matter of minutes...just you wait."

I smile silently as I scan the table. Marigold is talking to Dorcas and Emmeline a few seats away and James and Peter have the Popping Whiz Cricket hidden under the dinner table next to us. I can see them hurriedly whispering to one another as they glance uncertainly around and back down to their laps. Remus is at their side, surveying the staff table nervously.

I look to the staff table. Dumbledore is there, chatting with McGonagall and all the other teachers seem preoccupied with their own goings-on. Professor Binns is idly surveying his sparse plate.

"Perfect timing." Sirius mutters to me, from the corner of his mouth.

I glance over to James and Peter. Peter is holding the firecracker as James uses his wand to ignite the fuse. There's a bright spark as it catches, but no one in the Hall seems to notice.

"Hold onto your bonnets, lads." James mutters as he throws it up into the air.

There is a slight pause as people at the table look up in wonder at the rising device.

Remus is watching with mild disproval but unmistakable excitement hidden behind his expression.

Sirius looks unperturbed and James has an insane smile plastered across his face, not letting his eyes so much as deviate a centimeter from the ascending firecracker.

I too meanwhile gaze up at the firecracker in anticipation of the loud bang that is sure to come.

But there is no bang. Instead, there is a loud popping whizz that nearly blasts out my eardrums. The whole school looks around in confusion just as it explodes into a million sparks and colors.

James laughs and clutches Sirius for support, who giggles madly.

The whole Great Hall is showered in what seem to be fiery, sparking crickets. They chirp and pop and explode into fantastic designs. The school erupts in a mixture of laughter, screaming and clapping. Many students dash under the table's benches in fear, others try to catch the speeding points of light with their hands.

I myself use my arms to shield my body from the sparks, but I too laugh as the tiny cricket creatures buzz past me in a cacophony of light, sound and color.

The staff immediately attempts to smother the firecrackers, pointing their wands up at the lights and casting extinguishing spells. All except Dumbledore. He is scanning the tables with the expression of someone who knows exactly what they are looking for. His eyes come to Sirius and James and he simply raises his hand and beckons it towards the door leading off into a chamber.

Sirius, Remus, Peter and James rise immediately, still laughing hysterically, and bow for all the Great Hall to see.

There is a loud cheering from the Gryffindor table as people clap for them and egg them on.

"Well done!" laughs one of our classmates. I spy even a giggling Lily Evans as James beams triumphantly at her, and her alone.

I, concealing my erupting laughter, yell at them over the commotion, "That was brilliant!"

Sirius winks at me again as they stride down the aisle towards the door through which I know Dumbledore will follow to give them a nice chat about Hogwarts firecracker policy and detention.

After dinner that night, the Gryffindor common room is a loud and chattering event. All the students are talking about the firecrackers and no one seems concerned with studies at all.

"Those idiots! How do they think they won't be caught?" Marlene McKinnon says to me as I sit down with Marigold and Emmeline on the sofa near the fireplace.

I just shrug and say, "I don't think they care about being caught. They're in it for the glory,"

"Right you are, Rora!" a voice says behind me.

I turn around to see that James, Peter, Remus and Sirius are making their way through the portrait hole. Everyone claps at their entrance.

"Well, that wasn't too bad. All we got was a lecture on 'Head Boy responsibility' and three nights of detention. Not bad at all," James says.

"You blokes are gits, truly James," Marlene says. Everyone laughs.

"Though I can't deny that you are clever gits." Marlene says.

James just smiles at her and says, "Well, I think it's well worth it. Did you see the staff's faces! Priceless!"

At this he plops down in a chair, closely followed by Sirius, who sits down between Marlene and I.

"I think that went well, wouldn't you say, Rora?"

"You ought to get an award for that one, I must say," I say smoothly, smirking at him. He grins at me and announces, "I say we all have a little celebration…Butterbeers for all!"

The common room erupts in cheers and clapping as Sirius conjures up some drinks and starts passing them out, smiling broadly.

I gladly take one for myself and pop it open, reveling in the sweet warm taste it gives.

Out of the corner, James has tapped the wireless with his wand and music now pours out into the room. People gather round, still cheering and laughing and begin to dance.

"You Marauders are truly legendary,"a fourth year girl gushes, squeezing herself through the crowd surrounding us.

"And we'll be even more legendary when we take our team to the Quidditch championships this spring! Am I right?" James shouts to everyone. They all give a stupendous roar of a cheer.

Just then, however, the portrait hole opens and in rushes Professor McGonagall.

"Alright, alright everyone!" she yells over the commotion. "I'm sure you're all delightfully amused by Mr. Potter and his friends' display at dinner, but it is a school evening and parties are strictly forbidden in the Common Room. Save your celebration until after the next Quidditch match! Please return to your rooms in quiet at once!"

There is an audible groan from the crowd as everyone slowly and reluctantly makes their way up their respective stairways, throwing out their barely spent bitterer bottles as they do. I stare over at the Marauders, who look unfazed, still buzzed with the pride of having succeeded in their prank.

"You too, boys," McGonagall warns crossly, staring at them expectedly with pursed lips.

They get up begrudgingly and make their way to the boys dormitory stairway. But Sirius lingers behind.

"See you at the match tomorrow?" He asks hopefully.

"Of course, where else?" I answer warmly. He smiles in return. There is a moment that we stare at each other in silence, but eyes locked. There is something in his eyes, what was it? Expectation?

I hear McGonagall audibly clear her throat from beside us and we break out from our moment.

"See you," Sirius says in farewell and he heads up the stairs.

"Goodnight," I call over dreamily as I turn around to do the same.

When I open the door, Emmeline is already laying out on her bed with a book, with only her small bedside light illuminating her corner. Marigold is busy brushing out her fair curls as she readies for bed.

I kick off my shoes and settle myself into my comfy duvet.

I am lost in thought, thinking about my day. Lanacster's strange behavior, the commotion at dinner, and finally Sirius. I had never really given much thought to him. But something abut the way he had looked at me then, at the bottom on the stairs…

"Rora? You okay?"

I look up to see that Emmeline and Marigold are both over staring at me, almost concerned.

"Oh yes!" I say too quickly, almost with a giggle, trying to compensate for my reverie. Blimey, I sound like a blathering schoolgirl. I immediately blush. "Erm, goodnight…"

I deliberately avoid their undoubtedly confused glares as I pull the covers up over me and switch out the lamp hastily.

I can hear their whispers as I doze off.


	3. Of Quidditch & Quaffles

"Aurora, we're going to be late!"

I sharply lift my head from my pillow, glancing at the clock on the wall. It's a quarter after ten.

"Agh!" I groan, jumping up and quickly beginning to dress.

It's Saturday, and Gryffindor has a Quidditch match against Ravenclaw in less than an hour. And I've overslept horribly. Again.

Through the open door, I can see Emmeline standing with Marigold in the dormitory doorway chatting. Marigold is wearing an unnecessary amount of make up for a sports match and Emmeline's dark raven hair is knotted in a tight bun on top of her fringed head.

I jump up, undress, grab my towel hastily around me and quickly race past them to the dormitory showers.

Thankfully, the bathrooms are empty save for Marlene McKinnon and Dorcas Meadowes, who are using the mirrors to get ready. I dash past them and practically fling myself in a shower. I don't bother waiting for the shower water to run hot as I step in and begin to wash up.

As I scrub myself with a bar of lavender soap, I hear Marigold enter the bathroom and begin to chat with Marlene and Alice.

"Ready for the match?" Marigold asks them.

"You bet," I hear Marlene answer self-assuredly. "I've actually got to be down there soon, I'm running late."

"And James and Sirius won't be liking that, will they?" Dorcas adds sarcastically.

"Oh, Black can calm his wagon. I'm prepared. We spent an hour talking about logistics and plays last night anyway," Marlene I hear say.

"Oh, you and Sirius in a room together without biting each other's heads off?" Dorcas teases. I hear a bunch of laughter. I pause my scrubbing for a moment to listen closer. I hadn't realized Sirius had talked to her before he went to bed.

"Surprisingly…he just needed some advice. Wanted to strategize," Marlene says nonchalantly. There's more giggling.

"Oh that was all you too did, then?" Marigold teases suggestively.

"Oh shush, you," Marlene laughs, but I notice she doesn't deny it.

I silently bite my lip and continue washing. There is strange pang of something in the pit of my stomach, but I ignore it.

Once I'm dressed and ready, I meet Emmeline and Marigold at the portrait hole and we make our way to the pitch. There is no time for a proper breakfast for me, so I am hastily shoveling a croissant down my throat as we walk. Remus had graciously supplied us with snacks smuggled into the dorm from the kitchens a few days prior. He had a knack for finding the best chocolate.

The day is bright and sunny as we step out onto the grounds, though the early fall chill has begun to gently set in and I can see my breath hover in the air before me as I huff and puff up the slopes towards the pitch.

There is a steady stream of students and staff making their way down to the pitch alongside us, decked out in various supporting colors and flags and signs. It only then occurs to me that I am sporting a blue wool jacket, when I should be wearing red and gold. Oops. I never did think about these things until it was too late.

The stands are crowded already and it takes us a while to find seats when we reach the pitch. We finally spot Remus sitting with Peter up near the top of one of the stands and we make our way over, squishing in and between the dense crowd of spectators.

"Could you blokes have gotten any farther up?" Marigold complains. "Those stairs took a lifetime!"

"It's actually better to be higher up in Quidditch," he tries explaining to Marigold, who is only half listening. "Because Quidditch is played in the sky, you can see the game eas-"

"Well bloody hell, they should play the game lower!" Marigold interrupts.

I sit myself down in beside them both, with Marigold and Emmeline on my other side.

"Fancy a gummy wand?" Peter holds out a little bag full of brightly colored sweets to me.

"Nah, just ate. But thanks," I politely decline.

"Ooh I'll take some!" Marigold pipes up, eagerly sticking her hand in to grab a bunch of the candies.

At that moment, a loud whistle blows, signaling the two teams to fly out of their locker rooms, dashing across the pitch in unison to begin the game.

I look up and spot Sirius and James, Chaser and Seeker, soaring above. The crowd goes wild for them and they take bows and blow kisses to their adoring fellow Gryffindors. Marlene is right at Sirius's side, looking determined.

The first whistle blows and the game commences. Marlene immediately gains possession of the quaffle and is off, dodging Ravenclaws and bludgers in a spectacular show of skill. Sirius is off at her side, and they pass the quaffle back and forth in perfect unison as they progress further towards the goals.

"They work so well together, don't they?" Marigold observes to me. I shrug in response.

"Dunno, I've never through about it…" I mutter, glaring up as they barrel across the pitch.

James is meanwhile hovering above, scanning the sky for the Golden Snitch. He seems perfectly calm up there, silently surveying the area for any sign of the glinting orb as he bobs gently up and down.

As we watch the game, I am barely paying attention to the commentator, who is talking so fast I can hardly even keep up anyway. I never was able to stay engaged in Quidditch for too long anyhow.

Sirius flies by now, chasing after one of the Ravenclaws who has gotten a hold of the quaffle. He comes so close to our stands that I nearly think he'll graze the hats off some of us.

"OI BLACK! CAREFUL WHERE YOU'RE FLYING, YOU DOLT!"

We look over to see that apparently, Rodolphus Lestrange, one of Sirius's loathed Slytherin cousins, has indeed had his hat blown off. And it caused him to fall over on his side, much to the amusement to everyone around him.

And judging by the gloating grin that Sirius flashes behind him, I have a hard time believing it was an accident.

"I hate that bloke," Peter laughs, pointing over to where Rodolphus is struggling to regain his seating.

"Same. You'd think he would be so nice, coming from a Pureblood Slytherin legacy and all," Remus adds sarcastically.

Sirius catches back up to the pack of chasers, and just as one flings the quaffle at the goal posts, I nearly think they've got it in. But our keeper expertly deflects it and Marlene swoops under to grab it back and they're off again, headed back to the opposite end.

To my side, I see Lily Evans, joined by Dorcas and Alice, taking seats a few people down from us in the stands. Lily is wearing scarlet and gold mittens and I notice her clap enthusiastically as James whizzes past on his broom, evidently riling up the crowd. Sirius flanks him to the side, and they swoop together.

"Show-offs," Emmeline mutters, but she's clapping and cheering along with the rest of us.

I hear a loud Ding! as Marlene manages to thwart the Ravenclaw Keeper and sink the quaffle through the lower left goal post. Our side of the stadium erupts in a manic cacophony of cheering.

"MARY ME MCKINNON!" I hear a group of eager fifth year boys to my right chanting.

Possession of the quaffle has reversed now and the teams turn back around towards us again, weaving in and out of one another, so much that it is a wonder they don't collide. I see Sirius hanging back with Marlene, whispering something in her ear, strategy perhaps. I bristle slightly as I watch them, together.

I can hear the excitable voice of the commentator, sixth year Eli Peppercorn, who is now giving the crowd a detailed account of every move by Ravenclaw as they near the goal posts.

"Eisley takes possession of the quaffle, passes to Jones who swoops out from under McKinnon and throws back to Eisley now - POW! That's a powerful interception by Ginnifer Kirke, she's headed back now and - NO! She's been hit by a bludger - shake it off, now shake it off - and Eisley catches the quaffle! Folks, it looks likes his gaze is set towards the goalposts. Gryffindor had better brace themselves for this Ravenclaw powerhouse!"

Bradford Eisley was indeed a powerhouse. He was Ravenclaw's imposing team captain, dark haired and over six foot tall with long arms that could so easily stole the quaffle right out from under you.

"It should be illegal to be that tall," Peter mutters to me, gesturing upwards at Eisley. I stifle a cackle.

"I think Sirius is a good match," I respond, just as Sirius swopps under Eisley and attempts to steal the quaffle from him. But Eisley dogdes and continues his path towards the end of the stadium and our goalposts.

As he and the other Ravenclaw Chasers maneuver down, trying to keep the quaffle away from Sirius, Marlene and Ginnifer, I see James has flown very near our seats. He catches sight of Remus and Peter and gives them a big grin as they cheer him on. He hovers there for a moment, and suddenly the sun catches the tiny flitting form of something flying very near to James' head. With a jolt I realize its the Golden Snitch, just perfectly in reach of James. But before I can whistle to him to get him to notice, I see that he has caught sight of Lily. He runs his hand through his hair, as he so very often does, and gives her a surreptitious look. And though her expression is purposefully stony in response, I can see thats her eyes do not look away from his.

"OI POTTER! STOP LOOKING AT PRETTY GIRLS AND CATCH THE BLOODY SNITCH YOU DOLT!" Sirius' voice can be heard shouting at James from across the pitch. I look over to see him gesturing madly at James' side.

James seems to snap out of his silent conversation with Lily, sees the Snitch still tauntingly hovering right beside him and is just about to reach out when…

SLAM.

One of the Ravenclaw beaters flings a powerful bludger towards him, taking advantage of his momentary distraction. There is an audible gasp in the crowd as it hits James square in the back, sending him forward on his broomstick. He seems to gasp for breath for a moment before his brook points downwards into a spiraling nosedive towards the pitch.

There are a few screams from the crowd and I can see Sirius immediately barrel down after him on his broom. We all stand up for a better look. I frantically glance to my side to see Lily's face has been drained of color as she stands in panic, a hand over her mouth.

I hear the high pitched whistle of the referee and watch as several more players fly towards James, but it's no use. He slams into the ground, his fall broken only by his broomstick.

Remus and Peter immediately jump from their seats and dash towards the stairway leading down to the pitch floor. I don't know what to do, so I just stand helplessly and watch as Sirius lands beside him, chucks his broom aside and frantically shakes James' shoulders.

There is silence in the stadium as we all watch with held breath. Marigold, Emmeline and I exchange anxious glances.

The referee has made it to James now, and James slowly rises, with the aid of Sirius and several other players who have come to help. They support him as he limps forward slightly.

He turns, and with a painful-looking movement of his arm, raises his hand to reveal a golden, glinting object grasped within it for all the stadium to see.

He has caught the Golden Snitch. Gryffindor has won the match.

There is a moment of confused silence but it is brief, before the entire Gryffindor section of the stadium lets loose a gigantic roar of joy, disbelief and celebration. 

"YOU CAUGHT THE BLOODY SNITCH?! YOU BLOODY GENIUS!" I hear Sirius exclaiming from below, as he pats James on the back and hugs him. The rest of the team has surrounded James, and lift him up on their shoulders. Professor McGonagall, flanked by Madame Pomfrey who was always on call during matches, have arrived and are trying to coax James down, undoubtedly to be medically examined. McGonagall has an expression that switches between concern and triumph as she congratulations James but then sternly gestures for him to let Madame Pomfrey heal him.

But they are overtaken by the rest of the team, including Remus and Peter who have joined in the group and are beside themselves, laughing and cheering and celebraint.

Despite the commotion, James only smiles, shrugs and looks back up at the stands. And I turn to my side to see Lily, looking much relieved, smiling back down at him.

"You, mate, are a cheeky bastard,"

We were gathered in the Hospital Wing an hour later. Madame Pomfrey has finally let us in after he was properly looked over, given a few potions for his pain, and deemed fit for visitors. The entire team and many Gryffindor fellows were all crowded around his bedside, looking on in awe.

Somehow James had escaped that fall with not more than a minor broken hand (which Madame Pomfrey had mended in all of three minutes), some scrapes and a rather grisly bruise on his left side.

James smirks proudly, siting up in bed with a sling across his shoulder and a scraped cheek. His hair is still mussed from the game.

"That was incredible, Potter," Ginnifer says.

"I thought you were done for," Peter says in awe, looking a bit pale.

"S'alright Pete. I'm fit as a fiddle now," James assures him.

"I still can't bloody believe it," Sirius laughs with a shake of his head.

"How'd you manage it?" Remus asks.

"Well, right before that Ravenclaw git knocked that bludger at me-" James starts, and I can tell he is gearing up for a dramatic retelling of the scene, as was standard for him.

"Which was your own fault for getting distracted by a pretty girl, I might add!" Marlene teases from behind me.

James' face reddens slightly but his expression remains confident as he replies, "Well that's beside the point. Anyway, right as I started to fall, the Snitch flew right beneath me-"

"It didn't fly away after you got hit?" Peter asks in alarm.

"No, obviously not," James continues, looking miffed at the interruptions. "And I was falling so fast that I was able to propel forward slightly and catch it smack dab in my own hand,"

"Well drinks are on me next Hogsmeade weekend, mate!" Sirius says. There are several cheers at this. Madame Pomfrey purses her lips as she waits at the side.

"Students! Please, we must let Potter rest for the remainder of the afternoon, he has suffered quite a fall," she urges, trying to corral us towards the exit. "He will continue his riveting account later when he is discharged."

We groan in protest and are about to disassemble when we hear a new voice from behind us.

"Er, am I too late?"

We turn to see Lily, tentatively approaching the group holding a plate of food. "McGonagall told me to bring him some lunch," she explains awkwardly, indicating the plate of bread and cheese in her hands.

"Fine, Miss Evans you may help Potter with his lunch, but the rest of you: Out!" There are whispers as we reluctantly head towards the doors. But I look back at James for a moment, as he stares at Lily, standing there looking at him. His cheeks look slightly flushed.

"Evans," James says, almost shyly.

"Potter," Lily responds, looking slightly at a loss for words. But Sirius is not convinced by the nurse's shooing, and he is looking back at the pair of them with a look of slight confusion.

"No disrespect Madame Pomfrey, but James' best friends are here," Sirius says, gesturing to him and Peter and Remus. "We would be delighted to assist James with his lunch-"

"No, not this time Black. I've had enough of you boys' mischief in my Hospital Wing!" Madame Pomfrey snaps, with a pointed look of disapproval. "Miss Evans will be perfectly capable, now please return to your common room!"

Sirius opens his mouth to retort but Remus grabs his arms and turns him around. James barely registers the boys leaving as Remus says obediently, "Right away, Madame," as they glumly turn and follow us out the door.

"There is definitely something going on between those two," Marigold says as we walk down the long, candle-lit corridor back to Gryffindor Tower. "I could have cut the sexual tension with a knife back there, and at the match as well,"

Emmeline and I laugh. Sirius looks less amused.

"Evans was probably just there since she's Head Girl," he says with a wave of his hand.

"I dunno, Pads, they looked pretty pleased to see each other," Peter says with a suggestive hand gesture. Remus laughs.

"Oh spare me," Sirius rolls his eyes.

"So what's the plan for next weekend's Hogsmeade trip?" Emmeline asks the group as we round a corner and find ourselves in the Hall of Portraits, its seemingly endless ceiling towering above us. The thin windows to the sides let in warm shafts of afternoon sun that sparkle on the stone walls.

"Well Sirius and I agreed to meet up at the Three Broomsticks at some point, as per usual," I answer as we shuffle onto one of the many arching staircases that cascade throughout the hall.

"Excellent," Emmeline replies with a nod of approval.

"I'd like to pop into Honeydukes as well…" Remus adds. "I want some more chocolate."

"Of course you do," Emmeline says teasingly over to him with a smirk. "Any other ideas?"

"What about the Shrieking Shack?" I offer up, sarcastically.

Remus's head snaps over in her direction at this, for some reason. I raise a brow at him but he immediately looks away.

"Yeah, let's check out something new for once," Marigold agrees.

"But perhaps something not deathly haunted." Remus interjects hastily. We now have reached our floor and make our way towards the Fat Lady's gilded portrait at the end of the hall.

"But I feel like I've been in Honeydukes and Zonkos loads by now. It's our fourth year getting to go." Emmeline moans.

"But those are traditions. And this is our last year," I reply. I don't like the idea of skipping over the classic locations. They're special.

"And there's not much in the way of new in Hogsmeade," Remus points out. "We've pretty much seen it all by now," "Yeah, I suppose you're right" Emmeline agrees reluctantly.

We have arrived at the Portrait now. Our group shuffles up before her.

"Password?" The Fat Lady asks, not looking up from the book she is reading, perched on a comfy boroque stool.

" _Sola Eruca_ ," we all say in unison. The Fat Lady bows her head, and swings forward to reveal the Portrait Hole. We all take turns climbing through.

The rest of the Gryffindors have evidently decided to assemble in the common room by now, mingling and awaiting the return of James. They all cheer when they see Sirius enter and ask after James. He gives a short wave and explains that James will be back later tonight. I notice that many of the students are still sporting their face paint and banners and have managed to procure many bottles of butterbeer somehow. Marlene and Ginnifer pass us our own bottles as we turn to our usual spot by the fire.

"So howabout it then?" Sirius asks afterwards, turning to plop himself down on the sofa facing the stone hearth, butterbeer in hand. "The Shrieking Shack?"

Remus seems to have some kind of conniption fit which sends Sirius into a chorus of laughter. I take a seat beside Sirius and Marigold follows. Peter and Emmeline take a seat on the cozy rug beside us, so we are sitting in a circle. Remus, however has remained standing, giving Sirius a fierce glare.

"Lighten up, wolfie, I'm joking," he says. Remus's expression is full of warning.

"Best not make that joke around James, Padfoot," Remus mutters darkly.

"Why's that, dear Remus?" Sirius provokes, with a challenging expression on his jovial face.

"James is getting too confident in his ability to skive off the rules as it is, if you ask me," Remus responds cooly. "And he might actually take you up on that suggestion,"

Sirius waves him off. "James can do whatever he pleases. He clearly is preoccupied with that ginger, anyway," Sirius looks quite bitter as he takes a swig from his bottle.

"Oh come off it, you sound like a jealous housewife," Emmeline chides.

"Sirius practically is a jealous housewife," Peter says, and we all share a laugh. Sirius furrows his brow.

"Right, well all I'm saying is James has been distracted lately, and you all know it," Sirius replies. He sighs and empties his bottle and gets up to rejoin the students gathered at the other side of the room. I notice McGonagall is among them, no doubt recounting stories from her own Quidditch glory days.

"Well he's just acting peachy, isn't he?" Marigold observes once he leaves earshot.

I snort. "Well for good reason,"

"What's that mean?" Remus demands, coming to take Sirius' now empty seat. I can sense he wants me to follow up on my ominous admission from a few weeks ago.

Emmeline, Peter and Marigold are now all ears, and I resign myself to it; there was no point to quell the inevitable flow of gossip now.

"Well, a few weeks ago I overheard Lily and Alice Knight talking in the loo," I start, trying to keep my voice down. I lean forwards and they mirror my gesture. It was almost comical how enthralled they all looked in this moment.

"And Lily was talking about how James was ignoring her this term and acting weird. And it sounded like they had been in contact over summer,"

"Oh, just in contact?" Margiold giggles. "They must've shagged,"

"Now I'm not saying anything like that," I say shortly. "I'm just saying what it sounded like was that James and her had seen each other over summer and now he was acting strange towards her, that's all,"

"Nope, totally shagged," Marigold says. "It's the only thing that makes sense. Think about it: They meet up over summer, have a steamy romantic shag together and once term starts, they don't know how to act with one another and through shoddy communication and awkarneddess, tensions grow and they're left wondering " I glare at her. But I can't help but agree with her.

"Blimey, " Remus says absently.

"How'd you reckon all that?" Peter asks incredulously.

"Two words, Pete: Women's intuition,"

I roll my eyes. "I'm not sure if that's all true, I just am telling you what I heard-"

"Finally she goes out with him, after three years of asking, and he doesn't bloody tell us?" Peter says, looking hurt and ignoring my disclaiming.

"I can't confirm nor deny the truth of this, it's purely speculation," I say again, wanting to subdue the nervous pit in my stomach.

"And you waited weeks to tell us?" Remus accuses, with a furrowed brow. I give him a rueful shrug.

"Well, I don't like gossip," I explain simply.

"Aurora you are too good for this world," Emmeline says, patting me on the shoulder condescendingly. I roll my eyes at her and she laughs. "If it were Marigold, the whole school would know by now,"

"Hey," Marigold protests, pouting her full lips. "I'm not that bad,"

"Yes you are," the rest of us say in unison.

We all take a moment of silence while we sip our butterbeers and ponder was a funny day it had been. I watch as Ricky Frell enthusiastically reenacts one of his maneuvers from the match to a group of younger students.

I scan the common room and see Sirius is now chatting with a sixth year girl, I think her name was Clarice. She's twirling a tendril of her bright red hair between her fingers and leaning towards him, pouting her lips. He's leaning up against the wall, so elegantly casual that I wonder if he even has to give any effort.

"Alright, all this talk of girls and shrieking shacks has worn me down," yawns Remus as he rises. "I'm going to go upstairs, I'll see you later," And with that he heads up the boys dormitory stairs, looking quite stressed. Peter shrugs and follows him, giving us a look that indicated he would try to comfort him.

"You'd think Sirius, Peter and Remus had been dumped by James, I've never seen them more jealous," Emmeline remarks with a sip of butterbeer.

"Makes me wonder how they'll take it when James and Lily actually start publicly dating," Marigold muses.

"You think they will?" I ask lightly.

"Who knows. They have quite a fiery relationship as it is," she responds.

We spend the rest of the celebration party chatting and consuming more butterbeer. It is nearly another hour before James finally appears. Interestingly, he emerges through the portrait hole with Lily at his side.

"So they finally let you out, eh Potter?" Ricky Frell calls over to him. James gives a smile and goes over to join him and Sirius and the rest of the team, who are still chatting in the opposite corner. McGonagall had left by now, as well as many of the other students. It was nearing dinnertime afterall.

Lily hangs back, standing awkwardly in the center of the room as we survey her. I notice a few students whispering behind ears. Alice comes over to greet her and they walk together up to their room.

Awhile later, Margiold and Emmeline leave to get dinner, but i hang back. I wasn't quite hungry yet. I sit staring into the fire.

"So," comes a voice to my side. I turn to see Sirius has come over to reclaim his earlier seat next to me. His grey eyes are alight and seems in a much better mood now, which I internally note with some relief.

"I was thinking the other day about something," he starts, running his free hand through his dark hair. I lean my back against the pillows, gazing up at him.

"What?" I probe.

"Do you remember that time in fifth year when we got you to go in on prank with us, and we set the statues in the entry hall on fire?"

I laugh. I do remember that. It was one of the few times they had convinced me to take part in one of their schemes. I had been responsible for figuring out the schedules of staffers and the likelihood of them being present at the location. It had almost felt like espionage, and in a weird way it was amusing.

"Yeah, and Professor Figmont had a fit! He was stalking around demanding to know who did it, like the chipmunk he was!"

We both laugh uncontrollably together. His shoulders shake and I hold my stomach for support as we share in the memory.

"That old cod never had a clue!" he says. As our laughing begins to wane, Sirius brushes the hair out of his face and says to me, "I miss that. I miss those days."

I smile back at him. I liked being apart of their club. Even though I never was much of a Marauder.

I lean closer to him and say, "I miss that too, but you have to admit that I never did have a knack for pranking, out of the what, three or four times that I helped? It was always you guys that did most of the work."

"Ha! True, but you were always there for logistical advice." He leans closer, too. I can feel his breath.

"But anyways, it's not really like those were the 'good old days.' You blokes still pull that stuff all the time," I point out.

"Yeah, but it's not the same anymore." He says. "Nothing beats a fourteen year old boy getting to see the horror on a Professor's face when they've realized their robes are spattered with pixie dung. Nowadays, that sense of achievement tends to wane."

"Well, I'm sure you'll find something else to suit your fancy," I say, smiling again. I begin absent-mindedly playing with my fingers.

"Always good for moral support, you are," Sirius says, the corner of his mouth lifting into a half smile as he surveys my face.

I can't help but gaze back at him, suddenly feeling like I'm magnetized, not wanting to look away.

"You git!" a voice bellows behind us.

We snap apart, startled. Sirius, looking slightly annoyed wheels around. I look eagerly over his shoulder and there is James and Lily, standing together in the center of the room. There is a burning red hand-shaped mark across James' cheek.

"Evans - Lily, please -" James is pleading.

"Never come near me again, Potter!" Lily shouts. She stalks off out the portrait hole. Marlene, immediately shooting daggers at James and Sirius, dashes off after her.

Sirius turns back to me, gives an apologetic look and whispers, "Well I suppose I should go give some solace to my git of a best mate,"

"Yeah, sure," I nod absentmindedly. And as he rushes over to James, I can't help but feel a bit mystified.

Some things had certainly changed this term…And yet, I think as I look over at the enraged Lily staring daggers at James's back, some things certainly hadn't.


	4. The Manic Plans of James Potter

The brisk wind whips my hair behind me as I trudge up the little street in between the dainty rooftops of Hogsmeade. Marigold is right behind me, struggling to keep up, several shopping bags in tow.

"Curse this wind, I feel like I'm going to turn into a bloody statue," she complains angrily.

"I think it's going to rain soon," I say, observing the strange gray clouds in the distance.

"Fantastic! Just what I need! I haven't dressed for this at all!" she huffs as she wraps her coat tighter around her.

"Let's go into Honeydukes then," Emmeline suggests as we pass the small, cramped sweets shop.

"Fine, but after it's the Three Broomsticks or I'm out of this place!" Marigold grumbles.

We walk inside the door. There is a small ring of a bell as the door opens. The immediate smell of cinnamon and pumpkin spice meets my nose, the shopkeepers evidently starting the Halloween festivities early.

I eagerly make for the display of chocolate and caramel sweets on the left end of the room; a shelf overflowing with delicate little plops of candy with chopped nuts and drizzled caramel. I love the succulent look of the decorated little treats; they were almost too beautiful to want to eat.

"Anything I can get for you, dear?" the elderly owner in a brightly color apron asks from behind the counter beside me. She is short and jolly, with graying hair and I give her familiar face a grin.

"Oh no, just looking for now," I answer politely.

"Oh Emmeline, dear! How lovely to see you. And so tall," The owner smiles at Em, who blushes uncharacteristically. "Would you like a chcolate?"

"Oh no, Mrs. Honeyduke, that's alright, you don't have to-"

"Don't be silly dear, have one on me," she beams as she lifts one of the small caramel chocolates out and hands it over to Emmeline.

"You girls, too," she gestures to Marigold and I, and we eagerly take the free chocolates from her with grateful smiles.

"Thank you, it's very kind of you," I say with a grin.

"It's nothing. Tell your father Mrs. Honeyduke says hello, Emmeline!"

"I will!" Em calls back to her as we leave the shop, happily eating our treats.

"Wow, that was so nice of her," I say, as we make our way down the narrow, cobble-stoned street.

"She's such a sweet old lady…I didn't know she knows your dad," Marigold adds, as she uses her teeth to bite off a chunk of her chocolate.

Emmeline shrugs. "My dad is too charismatic for his own good. He helped her and Mr. Honeyduke with some legal issues over the summer," she explains.

We near the warmly lit Three Broomsticks pub. It's butter-yellow windows shine like beacons through the grey misty wind. I notice the owners have put a garland of autumnal leaves in an arch around the double entry doors.

"I'm dying for a butterbeer. And Sirius and the gang are supposed to meet us there soon," I say, gesturing over to the doors.

"Please, let's do go in!" Marigold cries.

As we enter the pub, savoring the warmth that spreads over us from the large fireplace aglow with orange flames, we spot Sirius and Remus already seated in one of the corner booths.

"Hey boys," Marigold says with a smile, as we approach their table. They look up in greeting, Remus already halfway through a frothy butterbeer.

Marigold seats herself next to Remus, and Emmeline follows. I sit down beside Sirius, suddenly acutely aware of his arm laying across the seat just centimeters from mine.

"Hey, Rora," he says with a smooth smile. "Fancy a butterbeer?"

"Please," I answer gratefully as I remove my woolen scarf and fluff my hair. Sirius easily gains the attention of the waitress and gestures for her to bring another glass.

"So what have you lads been up today?" Marigold prompts.

"Well, we went to Zonko's with James and Peter earlier but those blokes were taking forever and a day to pick out their toys so we decided to ditch them for some butterbeer," Sirius explains, taking a hearty sip from his drink. The foam lingers on his chin after he pulls the drink away and I have a sudden urge to wipe it clean, like he had for me last night.

Marigold beats me to it. "Oops, Sirius. You have a little leftover there," she giggles and points to his chin.

Sirius wipes his face, giving a quick sheepish grin, and continues, "Anyways, so we left them at Zonko's and they were meant to meet us here a quarter of an hour ago. But naturally they haven't showed."

"Ah, well it's so cold out, we might as well stay here for the afternoon anyway," Remus interjects mildly. But I know he has no desperate interest in aiding in the pranking endeavors anyway.

The waitress returns and drops down three more glasses of butterbeer for us.

"I for one am perfectly content to join you," I say, taking a long sip of the warm liquid and letting its warmth comfort my throat and belly.

"Hear hear," Emmeline agrees and raises her glass to mine.

"Well I on the other hand have some more shopping to attend to. I need a new dress for the party next weekend," Marigold says indignantly.

"What party?" Sirius and I ask in unison.

"My party," a voice comes from behind us. We all turn around to find James striding over to the table with Peter in tow behind him carrying a whole slew of bags.

"What?" says Sirius incredulously "Since when did we decide to have a party?"

"Since last night." James says, as he squeezes on the other side of me on the bench. I am now wedged between him and Sirius, and I can feel my leg pressed firmly against Sirius's thigh. Peter pulls up a chair and sits at the end of the table.

"And how did you know about it before me?" Sirius asks Marigold, looking a bit betrayed. He doesn't seem to mind the sudden lack of space.

"I was with James in the Common Room last night and he asked my opinion," explains Marigold with slight raise of her head. "He thought some of us seventh years could use a bit of fun, what with all these insane N.E.W.T. study sessions and all, and I quite agreed."

"It will be the party of the term if I have anything to do with it," James grins. "At least until springtime."

"Aren't you a bit busy with your _girlfriend_ to have any time for party planning?" Sirius asks bitterly.

James expression is stern but his ears redden slightly as he curtly responds, "Padfoot, for the last time, Evans and I are not-"

"Oh so its Evans again? Not _Lily_?" Sirius interjects, his eyes challenging James. The rest of the table is quite still now. We all want to know the truth at this point.

"For you information, Lily and I aren't exactly speaking right now, so," James avoids all of our eyes.

Having the sneaking suspicion that that had something to do with their row after the Qudditch match last week, and feeling somewhat responsible for this gossip ring, I attempt to alleviate the awkwardness, "James' business is his own, mates. Let's not ruin this day, eh?"

But James and Sirius don't seem convinced. Peter is looking on with apprehension and Remus is staring at the pair of them on either side of me, a look of concerned focus on his face.

"Evans is Head Girl, and we meet weekly for rounds and meetings, that's all," James says evenly, not taking his eyes off Sirius. "Our relationship is strictly business,"

Sirius snorts incredulously, taking a deep drink, his brows furrowed and eyes dark. James is looking increasingly angry by the second. I feel quite vulnerable sitting in between them, as if they might break out into a duel right over my head.

"Right, whatever you say, mate," Sirius says, and begins to rise from the table.

"You're not leaving?" Peter asks worriedly.

"Relax, Pete, I'm just going outside for a smoke," Sirius replies as he takes a pack from his pocket and exits the pub. James is stony faced, staring into the dregs of his butterbeer. Emmeline and I exchange a glance and Marigold clears her throat.

"So where are you going to have it? The party?" Remus asks, finally breaking the tension. "Certainly not the Common Room?"

James raises his eyebrow and gives Remus a disbelieving look. "You think I'm that daft, Moony? Of course not."

"Then where?" Peter prompts, looking quite excited by the prospect of a party.

James takes a quick look around before answering, and leans in slightly. We all mirror his gesture.

"The Boat house by the lake, decided this morning," James says, his voice barely above a whisper, but his eyes alive with energy.

"What?" yelps Marigold. We all quickly shush her and James, looking mildly annoyed, gives her a warning glance.

"But that's impossible!" she hisses, looking worried.

"Well that's the fun of it, isn't it?" James smirks as he leans back.

I glance to my side at Remus's expression. He is contemplative, but seems to approve.

"I like it," he says, hands stroking his chin. "But how will we get everyone out of the castle unnoticed?"

"Everyone?" James says, raising his eyebrows even more. "Who said everyone is coming to my extremely exclusive event?"

We all exchange confused expressions, waiting for James to continue.

Remus rolls his eyes. "Oh here we go,"

"No my lambs, only a select few will be joining us in this night of debauchery," James folds his hands neatly on the table.

"I helped pick out the guest list!" Marigold interjects, excitedly bouncing up and down in her seat. Peter follows her movement with a furtive glance.

"Who, then?" Emmeline probes.

"Well all of us here, obviously," James starts. "And then a select few Gryffindor and Ravenclaws seventh years. But no Slytherins, naturally,"

"What about Huffepuffs?" Emmeline asks.

"Pfft, please. Do you really think we'd invite that lot?" James laughs sardonically.

"Don't be cruel, they are a nice bunch!" I say. It was true, I never had trouble with Hufflepuffs and in fact quite liked most of them.

"Yeah, come on James don't be such a prick," Emmeline says. "Invite some Hufflepuffs."

James stares at her incredulously for a moment. "I cannot believe the lapse in judgment you're having right now. What's in that drink?" He grabs the butterbeer out of her hand and squints into the bottom.

"Oh come off it, I'm being serious." Emmeline says. They all argue for a moment about this Hufflepuff dilemma, Peter agreeing with James and Marigold defending Emmeline on the grounds of the fit sixth year Quidditch captain.

Looking anxiously out towards the door of the pub, I see the silhouette of Sirius's tall form, still out in the cold. Biting my lip, I take the opportunity to slip away in the distraction of the bickering,

"Gonna just get another butterbeer," I lie as I sneak off towards the front of the pub, but none of them seem to notice me leave. I squeeze though the now crowded room until I finally make it out the front doors and look to my right to find Sirius standing there, halfway through his cigarette and leaning against a wooden pole, his jacket collar upturned to shield his face from the wind.

"Hey," I say to him. He turns and gives a weak smile in surprise.

"Hey,"

"I have something to tell you," I step forward to his side.

"Oh?" His dark brows raise slightly.

"I feel a bit responsible for this whole…Lily situation," I begin, eyes downcast.

"How do you reckon that?" he asks, confusion dotting his grey eyes as he surveys me curiously.

My mouth is moving before I can stop it. "Well, I told Remus that I overheard her talking about seeing James over the summer in the dormitory loo, when really she didn't _specifically_ say it was James, it could have been anyone, and now I've gone and blabbed it around and made a _thing_ out of it and I'm afraid I've made it seem like something it probably isn't and now you and James are fighting and-"

"Rora, stop." Sirius interrupts, reaching his index finger to my lips. My breath catches and my cheeks being to flush with warmth.

"James and I aren't fighting. He's just temporarily being a prat," Sirius says simply. "This is hardly your fault. We're best mates, we would have found out eventually," Sirius assures me.

"But that's the point, there's nothing to _find out_ about," I say pleadingly, brushing his hand away.

Sirius purses his lips and throws his cigarette butt to the ground and stamps it out with his leather boot. "But there is, James just hasn't admitted it yet,"

"You don't know that though," I try to argue. But Sirius cocks his head and shrugs.

"I think I know my best mate. He's hiding something. Now, shall we return?"

I sigh in defeat. He didn't seem like he was going to listen.

"I suppose," I mutter and follow him back inside the pub as he holds the door back open, directing me inside.

When we reach the table, the lot of them are still arguing over the Hufflepuff situation.

"But Bleasdale is a git, he doesn't void McNibbons at all,"

"He plays a wicked guitar, James, he could provide entertainment,"

"But he never stops playing it at the end of the night, do you really want to hear _Hey Jude_ until three in the bloody morning?"

"Let's cut our losses here-"

"Bleasedale is _not_ a loss,"

"Oi!" Sirius gets them to quiet. They all turn round to stare at us standing at the head of the table.

"Back from your dramatic exit?" Remus mumbles and Peter smirks. Sirius glares at them and takes his seat again, and I follow suit.

"Now, as I can tell, Hufflepuffs invitees are on the table?" Sirius says, brushing off the comment. "I vote we invite the Hufflepuffs. But I get full charge of the firewhiskey supply and let them sort out the snacks, deal?"

Sirius stretches out his hand to James, who looks begrudgingly amused. Sirius raises his eyebrows expectantly, and James reluctantly shakes his hand.

"Then it's settled. We, and our special guests, will meet at the bridge at half past ten next Saturday evening." James says reluctantly. And with that he rises, grabs the Zonko's bags from Peter and saunters off towards the door.

"Where're you going so fast, then?" Emmeline calls after him.

"Lot's of planning to do, I expect. And a girlfriend to see," Sirius says with a hint of sarcasm in his voice as the door to the pub closes behind James with a strong gust of freezing wind.

"Sirius, I t _old_ you-" I begin to say.

"Only joking, Rors," he says with a smirk as he returns to his frosted butterbeer, which had only dregs remaining. But I suspect he is only placating me.

"Anyway, I think I'll head back to the castle to sort out that firewhiskey order," he says, dropping a few coins onto the table for his tab. "Are you lot coming?"

"Well I'll be needing to stop by the robes shop, obviously!" Marigold says indignantly, beginning to collect her things. "Em, you coming?

"Yeah, sure why not," Emmeline shrugs. "I don't want to go back just yet,"

"Count me out, I think I'll head back too," I say, not much in the mood for more shopping.

He looks to Remus and Peter, who says, "We'll be here for awhile. We'll see you later."

"Okay, see you later then," I say, turning to put my coat and scarf back on. Sirius does the same and we exit the pub into the freezing air. We walk in silence for a bit, passing the idyllic frost-bitten window displays of the village. The sun is not yet low on the horizon, and the streets are teaming with excitable students carrying overflowing bags full of their souvenirs.

"So you're coming to the party, I'm assuming?" Sirius asks carefully, his eyes watching the frozen ground as we walk.

"Of course," I say with a small laugh. "What else would I be doing?"

He laughs. "I suppose, we do offer the best entertainment around, us Marauders."

"I can't deny it," I say. "Though I am curious to see how this one pans out."

"I'm leaving it up to James," Sirius says.

"To be honest, I have no bloody clue how he's going to get us all out to the Boat House in the freezing dark without being seen." I say.

"He'll manage somehow," Sirius says. "As long as he quits being a git,"

"Well I'm sure he will," I say warningly. "We all really do need a good mischievous night after all this bloody N.E.W.T. revision," I respond, though I am slightly skeptical.

"Because we don't get enough mischief already, now do we?" Sirius's face breaks into a large grin, lighting up his gray eyes with playfulness.

I mirror his expression and continue, "Oh, I'm going to miss you lot when the year is done. How will I survive without your regular doses of miscreant rebellion?"

"Who says you have to?" he says, a genuine look of surprise on his face.

"What do you mean?" My eyes narrow slightly.

"Well, who says we can't see each other after we graduate?" Sirius continues pointedly.

"I suppose you're right." I say. "I just assumed we'd all kind of…go on with our different jobs and lives, I suppose."

"We'll keep in touch. I know it. You've been too good a friend to lose, Aurora." There's no hint of a joke in his voice when he says this. He staring straight at me. I'm caught off guard.

I smile to myself the wind picks up and my hair is whipped forth even more. We are ascending the cliff-laden path up towards the stone courtyard now, the entry doors just barely in sight.

"Oh god, curse this weather. I'm freezing," I try to warm myself by rubbing my arms.

"Here, take my scarf," Sirius unwraps his gray and black striped scarf from his neck and takes out his wand and with a wave it's wrapped snuggle around mine. "Let's go inside the castle before we die of frost bite."

Once we get to the common room, Sirius sheds his jacket and plops down immediately on one of the large couches. I settle myself beside him and warm my hands by the fire.

"Wait, weren't you going to figure out the firewhiskey?" I ask, watching as he makes himself comfortable.

"Oh, yeah I will. All I have to do is ask my cousin to supply us through a portkey, and we're set," he said nonchalantly, lifting his legs to rest them on the table in front of the fire.

"So what was all that back at the pub about getting back early to plan?" I accuse with a laugh.

Sirius smiles sheepishly and turns towards me. "Well…I wanted to get away from that lot for a while. Can be a bit smothering, don't you think?"

I narrow my eyes skeptically as I give him a smile and shrug.

"And here I thought you were just being bitter about James,"

"He can do whatever he pleases," Sirius answers evenly. "I just wish he'd be honest with us, we've only been his best mates for _six bloody years_ ,"

I sigh. "Look. Give him time. If, and I mean _if_ , there really is something between him and Lily, he'll find the right time to tell you,"

Sirius stares into the dancing flames. "I would hope so, but like he said, perhaps they've had a falling out,"

"Or you hope they have?"

"Maybe he's still in shock that she actually is giving him the time of day?" Sirius says.

"Or shocked that she let him get in her knickers?" I joke, pleased when I see his mouth break into a surprised laugh.

"I love it when you're vulgar," he teases and we laugh together for a moment.

The corner of his mouth is now angled into an almost shy smile, his eyes downcast with a contemplative expression. I have never quite seen Sirius like this. I wait with my breathe practically held inside, unsure of what he'll say next.

"You surprise me all the time, you know that?" His sharp eyes have returned to meet mine.

"You do too, Sirius. You're one of my best friends here." I give him a small smirk, surprised at the thought. But it really was true. "Don't let that go to your head,"

He laughs. "Of course not. We all know that's James' job, being the Bighead Boy and all."

I laugh with him as I stare into the fire. I am suddenly aware that we are alone in the common room. All the other students are undoubtedly still in the village and anyone younger seems to be off exploring on this free weekend.

I direct my gaze back at Sirius, and find him staring intently back at me. I bite my lip slightly. He's suddenly leaning closer and closer. I'm so close to his face I can make out his light stubble across his jaw, his slightly chapped lips.

"'Rora…" he whispers slowly. I'm so still I can't speak. His hand softly reaches up to the crook of my back as his face gets nearer and nearer. I can feel his breath on my lips.

I am seized by the moment, completely unaware of my surroundings or how we even got to be in this position. But as soon as I have time to register what's happening, we're jolted apart by a loud noise.

James has entered, looking flustered and almost manic. He is carrying a long piece of parchment and is striding forward with the look of urgency.

"Change of plans!" he cries manically, his wand out.

Sirius clears his throat before asking, "What do you mean?" He hastily unlocks his arms from around me and we shift hastily apart on the couch.

James doesn't seem to notice our current state as he walks over to a desk in the side of the common room, surveying his parchment. "Boat House idea is out. It's too obvious. I've thought of something…better."

He gives us an expectant smirk, waiting for our response.

"What, in the last ten minutes?" I exasperatedly say impatiently, partially annoyed at his insistence but mostly at his consistently awful timing. I awkwardly turn away from Sirius to face James.

"Well, where's it going to be, then?" Sirius asks, looking equally as peeved.

James licks his lips and says with a devious smile,

" _The Shrieking Shack_."


	5. The Marauders' Reveal

"Are you mad?" Sirius is looking at James with an incredulous expression written across his strained face. He stands up, leaving me on the couch.

"Perhaps a bit, but can you imagine how utterly sensational this will be?" James looks like a madman, clutching his parchment in hand, and his wand held out for no apparent reason.

"This is insane, Prongs. Even for you," Sirius says, turning to me for a look of agreement.

"Yeah James," I start carefully. "I'm not sure this is possible…how will we get into the Shack unseen?"

"James, this is a disaster waiting to happen," Sirius adds seriously, shaking his head.

"Padfoot, _you_ of all people should know it's actually not." James says pointedly. There is a split second where Sirius and James exchange a look, and suddenly I am under the impression they are having a silent conversation. I narrow my eyes, curious.

"But James, _that's_ not possible with this many people," Sirius says pointedly.

"What's _that_?" I interject skeptically. I sense they are keeping something from me.

But they are still facing each other, as if completely unaware of me standing two feet beside them.

"Of course I know that. But you're overlooking a key step." James says, his eyes large and bright with excitement.

"What? Surely not…the passage?" Sirius asks, his eyes widening.

" _Of course_ not. I'm not an idiot," James snaps. I really wish they'd let me in on whatever the bloody hell they were referring to…

"We can easily get our small group of older, responsible students across the grounds under the cover of fog, it won't be trouble at all," James explains. I laugh humorlessly. Fat chance of that.

"But…Prongs we're not supposed to. We can't." Sirius states in an uncharacteristically anxious voice. "And Dumbledore. We'll be expelled for sure." Sirius is running his hand through his hair, only mussing it further. A nervous habit of his. 

I myself am thoroughly lost. "Mind filling me in please?" I say, annoyed.

"This will end badly, James." Sirius goes on regardless of my questioning

"Not if I have anything to do with it," James says, suavely confident.

"I don't know…" Sirius says slowly. His hair has not reached a level of disarray I have never yet witnessed.

"Trust me, it'll go without a hitch. My plan is foolproof," James says self-assuredly.

"But-" Sirius starts.

Now I have had enough.

"Can you two gits please stop ignoring me and explain what the hell you're going on about?!" I screech, standing now and looking between the pair of them with an angered expression.

This seems to break them from their focus. Sirius turns towards me,"Sorry. I'm just trying to convince James here that he's being absolutely insane."

"I know, but what's this about a passage?" I have an unnerving feeling of being left out of a large secret. Though I was quite used to this kind of behavior with these boys, this was approaching the last straw of my patience.

James and Sirius exchange a look for a moment before turning back to face me.

"Well Rora…" James starts, handing me the piece of parchment he'd been holding. "We've got something to explain."

Sirius looks at James incredulously. "You want to show her?"

"Of course Padfoot, it's fine. We trust her."

"What in the bloody hell is going on?" I ask again.

Sirius just smirks and gestures to the old parchment James was still holding out.

I take the parchment, confused, and survey it. It's blank and yellowed and frayed at the edges.

"What? There's nothing on here?" I raise one eyebrow. "If you lot are pranking me right now I swear…" I warn.

"We're not," Sirius assures, and slowly takes out his wand.

"Rora, as a trusted friend of the Marauders…we confess we have not been completely honest with you." James says, mirroring the motion with his own wand.

I stare at the both of them in utter bewilderment and silence, as they both reach out their wands, hold them to the blank parchment and mutter in unison,

 _"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."_

Suddenly the parchment, blank mere seconds before, is alive with lines, shapes and words. My eyes widen in awe. The shapes form what appear to be blueprints, with names of rooms and corridors popping up all around. In the center, the words _Messers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs proudly present…the Marauder's Map_ appears in loopy crimson lettering, spreading out across the page like droplets of spilt wine. I stare disbelieving at what I'm seeing.

"What is this? Where did you get this?" I ask in bewilderment. James and Sirius smirk at each other and don't respond.

My nose is barely millimeters from the surface of the parchment as I examine every line as it appears. There are many labyrinthine lines and words, making a maze of shapes before me.

"You didn't…" I start slowly. "Surely you didn't _make_ this?"

I look up at them, and they are both smiling proudly now.

"That's right, took us ages to get it right." Sirius says, coming over to stand closer to me so he can look at the map.

"See these footprints? That's someone walking through the 2nd floor corridor as we speak." He gestures to one of the many small black dots slowly moving across the page. I am speechless.

"Wait," I say now, inspecting the lines closer. "This…this is _Hogwarts_?"

"It is," James says.

I examine the map closer, and see a whole network of lines that seem to represent each floor and room in the castle. Many I recognized, and even some I didn't. I scan it more, spotting the Great Hall, the dungeons and the green houses. Hundreds of the dots are moving around at varying speeds, some in groups, others alone.

"And it tracks everyone?" I ask, examining the many different labeled names. James nods.

"Really useful for sneaking around at night," Sirius says with a laugh. "How did you ever think we pulled off all those pranks so well, Rora?"

"I…I don't know," I am in a state of awe. "I just can't believe you gits have had this map for years and never told me!"

They laugh together. "Well, we couldn't exactly have the whole school know, it would get confiscated immediately." Sirius explains sheepishly.

"Oh, and I'm the whole school?" I raise an eyebrow at him.

"I wanted to tell you last year," he confesses. "But I had to make sure your allegiance to the Marauders was true."

"Oh please," I scoff, but I'm smiling.

"And if you haven't noticed, those nicknames of ours really came in handy with this map." James says giddily, gesturing to the title.

"Hmm, and here I was thinking you were just overly affectionate," I say with a chortle.

"Ha-ha, good one Rora," Sirius says sarcastically. "But actually we did needed to have some degree of anonymity so they couldn't trace it back to us."

"Except that you still call each other the names all the time?" I point out, raising an eyebrow. "I hardly think no one has noticed."

"Well, we only really do that in front of you and a few others, actually," James says. "Only the most trustworthy Gryffindors who would never rat us out."

I roll my eyes. "You blokes take yourselves _way_ too seriously,"

They laugh merrily before I press on, "So…where is this passage you were talking about before?" I scan the page, searching for a marker.

James looks nervously at Sirius for a moment, evidently now becoming hesitant about the extent of my knowledge. Sirius just shrugs and points his finger to the Hogwarts grounds portion, on top of a little tree labeled _Whomping Willow_.

"You've got to be joking," I say, looking back up at him incredulously.

"No, not joking in the slightest my dear Rora." James gives a sly smile. "But we won't be using it,"

"No?" I ask. "Then what does this map have to do with your genius plan?"

"We can use it to check if there are any staff members nearby, of course!" James exclaims.

"We've got it covered, don't you worry, love" Sirius says, mirroring James smirk as he takes the parchment from me. He seems suddenly rather affectionate towards his best mate again, I note. Perhaps the prospect of a mischievous plan had distracted him from his annoyance with James.

"I think this will go off without a hitch, we're quite experienced with navigating the grounds after dark," Sirius explains casually as he takes out his wand.

" _Mischief managed,"_ he mutters, pressing his wand to the map, which wipes its surface clean again.

But hang on," I prod. "How often do you blokes go out after dark? Is it really that often?"

"Oh, just once a month," James and Sirius find this endlessly amusing, apparently as are struck with a laughing fit. I purse my lips. Like interrogating the Mad Hatter, these two. But I got the sneaking suspicion that they were hiding something more…

"And anyway, we can explain more later," James says, composing himself. "But I've got to go meet Evans for our evening rounds planning with the Prefects,"

This wipes the grin clean off Sirius's face in an instant.

"On a Saturday?" He asks incredulously. James cheeks flush ever so slightly as he nosiily fiddles with the rolled map.

"Yes, it's highly urgent," he stammers and quickly stashes the map back in his pocket. "It was, er, Lily's, I mean Evan's idea, sorry mate, can't stay," and with that he turns around back out the portrait hole again.

Judging by Sirius's expression, it would seem the momentary coalescence he felt with his friend was waning once more at James abrupt departure. His brow begins to lightly furrow as he looks at the space James had occupied just seconds earlier.

"Git," I hear him nearly inaudibly mutter under his breath.

"Well then," I sigh and return to my seat on the sofa by the hearth. "I am going to hold you to that promise of a _full_ explanation,"

But Sirius's face is stern once again as he turns to sit next to me once more. In the silent moment where we sit staring into the glowing embers, still very much alone in the deserted common room, I can't help but remember what we had been doing right before James had stormed in so suddenly...but I can't bring myself to say anything. I'm not even sure what I could say.

"Rora, I promise I will explain…everything. Just so long as you promise me that when we leave school we won't lose touch." he says lightly, his voice almost pleading.

"Yes, of course, Sirius," I answer, taken aback at his tone.

"It's just what you said earlier, about us going our separate ways…" he trails off. But I can guess that he is worried moreso about James.

"Oh, well I suppose I just assumed we'd all end up living different places, with our careers, that's all," I say reassuringly. Sirius is staring into the flames now, worry etched across his face.

"I don't know where I'll end up," he says lightly. "But promise me we'll find a way to all stay mates,"

"I promise," I say with certainty.

"No matter of James ends up marrying Evans of if you get launched to the moon or if Remus gets lost in the basement of the Ministry or if Marigold drowns in a pint of cider?"

I give a snort and he laughs with me. "Yes, even then, we will find a way. Though I think I have more of a chance of getting launched into the galaxy than James marrying Lily,"

Sirius raises an eyebrow for a moment, "I'm not so sure,"

I roll my eyes. "You are truly a jealous green-eyed monster, Black,"

Middays on Sundays at Hogwarts often had a lazy atmosphere despite the looming due dates of the week ahead. On this particular Sunday, I found myself attempting to be studious despite my longing to be curled up on a sofa by the fire.

It was the day after the Hogsmeade trip, and Sirius, Remus, and Peter and were seated across from me on one of the long wooden tables lining the spaces between the aisles of books in the school library. The leaded glass of the windows cast a cross-hatched shadow across the surface of the table and my impressive spread of books and papers.

The boys were all hunched over a large spread of parchment with discarded games of Hangman strewn about, seeming to not be getting much studying done at all. They were chatting in quite a distracting manner, but I was doing my best to ignore them and focus on my astronomy report. Though my success in this was questionable…

"You know, Rora, it is quite a shame you aren't studying to be an Auror with James and I," Sirius whispers to me casually.

"Why's that?" I answer absently, not looking up the report which was spread over the majority of the table in front of me as I filled in chart data and drafted summaries.

"Because then you'd be _Aurora the Auror_."

I look up to see him giving me a cheeky grin, and I roll my eyes. Him, Remus and Peter erupt in cackles, looking very pleased with themselves.

"You know, it's funny. I was sitting here with my good mates Remus, Sirius and Peter but all I see are a bunch of immature eight year old _boys_ ," I retort disdainfully, dipping my quill into my ink bottle and very purposefully continuing to write.

Sirius slides down the bench next to me.

"Don't be like that, Rors," he whispers with an exaggerated, puppy dog expression.

Remus slides over next. "Yeah, he wasn't being _serious_ ,"

Peter giggles madly at this and I try with all my might to disguise my emerging grin and deny them the satisfaction of their lame pun.

"You lot are insufferable," I say, but the corners of my mouth have risen, and I am defeated.

"No I'd say we're just looking for _Au-Roaring_ good time, is all," Sirius responds. I could slap him.

"You have the _worst_ taste in puns, do you know that?" I tease.

"Black! Mockinglow! Quiet down, or I shall have to remove you from our quiet library!" We hear the snapping reproach of Madame Pince, the librarian, from behind us. We all quickly straighten up in our seats and stifle our laughter.

"Madame _Pinchers_ doesn't seem to like my puns much," Sirius whispers, miming the look of a perturbed crab. It is all we can do to stop our cackles from escaping, but it is too late.

With a silent fury that only a librarian could muster, Madame Pince strides back over to us in an instant and points her finger silently to the door. "You will be sent through those doors unless you can behave," She says with a stern raise of her brow. We all obediently return our gazes to the books in front of us.

The creak of the library doors alerts us to a new addition and we look up to see two adult figures emerging, walking side by side.

"Speaking of Aurors," Remus mutters. They were indeed two of the Ministry Aurors who had been more or less sleuthing around the castle for the last few weeks of classes. Sometimes I would see them pacing through an empty corridor or lurking outside a classroom door, but I had rarely bumped into one of them more directly.

We watch as they survey the library, the many rows of students pouring over parchment rolls and books, and make their way down the line. 

"Should we hide the contraband?" Remus jokes. "Take cover under a table?"

The taller one of the pair, a lean man in his early thirties with a rough blonde beard and a pierced brow, reaches our table.

"Good afternoon, students," he greets amicably. "Successful studying?"

We all nod silently and politely, myself stifling a snort at how paradoxically obedient the boys looked.

"An aspiring Astronomer?" The Auror asks, looking down at my astronomy chart with some interest.

"Erm, yes. I want to work for the Magical Center for Celestial Observation one day," I answer shyly. His light eyes twinkle a bit.

"Ah yes, my Aunt works up there. And I believe one of the professors here used to be employed there, too. What was his name again, Lidia?" The Auror calls over to his partner, a young black woman with jetblack hair, who is by the window, looking furtively out onto the grounds.

"Lancaster?" she answers. "The new one, right?"

My mouth hangs open for a moment in disbelief. I exchange a rather confused look with Sirius.

"You've met him yet?" The first Auror asks, obviously surprised at my harsh reaction.

"Well yes, he's our substitute Charms professor, but I didn't know he was an Astronomer," I am a bit disturbed by this. If the employees at the Observatory were anything like him, I wasn't sure I wanted to work there after all…

"Oh yes, he left the position a few years ago, I believe. My sister knows him from school," the second Auror, Lidia, explains. "Maybe he could help you study,"

I am grateful for her good intentions, but studying with Lancaster was the very last thing I would want to do.

"Perhaps I will," I say politely with a shrug.

"What Aurora here means to say is, no thank you, that bloke is a git," Sirius interjects.

My eyes widen and I kick Sirius' foot from under the table. Peter has to stifle another laugh.

But luckily the Aurors find this very amusing.

"Not a great teacher, then?" the first one laughs.

"Not really my cup of tea is all," I answer apologetically. "I appreciate the suggestion, though,"

Lidia, however, gives an easy smile. "Come to think of it, Clarke, my sister did say he was rather…egotistical at times,"

Sirius gives a hollow laugh. "You could say that,"

The first Auror, whose name was apparently Clarke, is still staring at us somewhat curiously and still with amusement.

"You, what's your name, boy?" He asks Sirius.

"Black," he answers coolly, leaning back casually in his seat. "Sirius Black,"

Clarke nods slowly, as if he has confirmed something. "Thought I recognized you,"

Sirius flinches ever so slightly at this. I wonder on what circumstances this Auror had encountered his family members.

"I was talking with your brother, Regulus, just yesterday," he explains. Sirius looks slightly relieved.

"He's alright, for a Slytherin," Clarke gives a booming laugh.

"You were a Gryffindor in school, I take it?" Remus asks.

"Oh yes, the very best House!" he answers jovially.

"Behind Ravenclaw, of course," Lidia jabs and Clarke rolls his eyes.

"Oh you and your gaggle of bookworms," Clarke teases.

"I seem to remember Ravenclaw winning the House Cup our seventh year?" Lidia says with a coy smile.

"You two graduated together then?" Peter asks.

"Oh yes. We hated each other a bit back then though," Clarke says wth a playful grin. "She couldn't stand me,"

"Only because you were such an arrogant prick," Lidia says.

"But she warmed up to me eventually," Clarke winks at us.

"Clearly, or else I can't imagine how miserable being co-workers would be," Peter observes innocently. Both Clarke and Lidia share a hearty laugh at this.

"Quite," Lidia agrees.

Just then, the ever formidable Madame Pince has returned looking more full of wrath than I had ever seen her.

"Dawlish, Jones, please leave the students to their studying. If you cannot patrol without distracting them, I must ask you to please take your conversations elsewhere," she hisses coolly.

Clarke nods his head in understanding and quips to us, "Well, we'll leave you lot to your, um, dutiful revision," He eyes the boys' stacks of discarded Hangman games scribbled all over their papers with a smirk. "Happy studying,"

Once they've continued on their way and Madame Pince has recoiled back to her front desk lair, we all return to our occupations. I try to regain my spot in the long list of coordinates and position logs and I notice even Sirius has cracked open his D.A.D.A. textbook. I see Remus taking out a bit of tattered parchment, tap it with his wand under the table, and examine it closely.

With a start, I realize he has the Marauder's Map.

I glance over at Sirius, with his dark hair falling softly in his face as he pours over his book, his eyes downcast towards the words in a casual focus. His white shirt is unbuttoned slightly, his house tie abandoned somewhere, so that I can see a slight peaking of his neck and chest. I lick my lips as a strange sensation flows through my torso.

I snap myself out of it and clear my throat softly, trying to get his attention.

Sirius looks up, his eyes meeting mine and I subtly gesture to the map in Remus's hand. Sirius's eyes widen, and he gives me a distinctly warning look. He jerks his head towards Remus and Peter and then shakes it back and forth, mouthing, " _Don't say anything yet_ ,"

"You better explain tonight," I mouth back to him. I am partly impressed by the sheer skill it must have taken to make the thing, and partly irked that it took so long for him to divulge it to me.

Sirius only gives me a dismissive nod and a smirk. In contempt, I pursue my lips and return to my chart.

His grey eyes blink up to me and catch me staring, and I hurried avert my glance back to my chart.

Later on, when the sun has begun to set behind the distant mountains, the boys decide they have had quite their fill of studying and elect to head back to Gryffindor Tower. I rise from my table to leave with them, but as we make our way out of the library, I slow down and turn instead towards the staircase to the Astronomy Tower. Before I get up even one step, Sirius calls me to stop.

"Hey Rora! You coming?"

I turn, and hold out my overflowing arms full of astronomy material in explanation.

"I've really got to go up to the Astronomy Tower and study the sky more. I need to memorize this star system," I explain, indicating my large handful of rolled up charts. "It's nearly dark, and conditions look clear, so I really should take advantage of it…"

"Well mind if I join you?" he offers with hopeful eyes, making his way towards me. "I don't really fancy sitting around the Common room tonight. It's getting quite boring already,"

I shrug, "Sure Sirius. But I have to warn you it's not going to be exciting up there tonight either, just me peering into telescopes,"

He only smiles. "I've known you long enough to know about your obsession with stars, Rora. You can't hide your giddiness."

I narrow my eyes, "Well I only meant _you_ may be bored…"

"I think I'll risk it," he holds out his hand, turning now towards the staircase. "And besides, I've been up there plenty of times and I've been able to occupy myself." His smile at this was oddly devious. "You coming?"

I shrug with a reluctant smile and take his hand and ascend the stairs at his side.

Once we reach the top, I open the door and lead him out onto the large expanse.

The ceiling of the tower is transparent, allowing a full panoramic view of the night sky. The rain from earlier that morning had altogether subsided, the grouping of clouds moving off into the west, leaving a wide clear patch of sky. The stars are bright and clear, perfect viewing conditions that only the aftermath of a rainstorm could bring. Though we seem to be the only students taking advantage of it tonight.

"Blimey, this is incredible," Sirius murmurs, his face directed upwards in awe as he walks across the deck. The deep indigo of the approaching night was creeping in, with tiny a dotting of stars twinkling above like friends returning from a long holiday. Or at least that was how I liked to think of them.

"I can't remember the last time I was up here where the stars were so clear." Sirius marvels, standing at the edge of the balcony.

"You were probably preoccupied with other things," I say teasingly.

He smirks but doesn't respond.

I walk over to one of the large silvery telescopes and tap it with my light willow wand.

"But anyway, this should be perfect for my observing tonight." I say, as I watch the telescope's core light up in a fiery orb as it starts up. I put one eye into the viewing piece.

I hear him say from behind me. "You've always been so good at this star stuff, Rora. I don't know how you do it,"

"What? Astronomy?" I ask.

"Yeah, you are brilliant at it, you know that?" He is still facing away from me, head turned up towards the sky.

"I just really enjoy it, mostly. The skill just follows, I suppose," I say lightly, as I position the telescope's lens to the correct position in the sky.

"Saturn is gorgeous tonight. So clear," I observe quietly, mostly to myself, as I spread out my star chart. I redirect my telescope to a distant patch of stars, zoom in and begin to take note of their positions. Sirius is now slumped down behind me, against the wall, surveying the night sky with awe.

There are several moments, full of nothing but a comfortable silence as I tinker with my telescopes and note the star's relative positions as Sirius sits calmly at my side. My quill's scratching was the only sound apart from the quiet hum of the forest and the clatter of the telescope's mechanics.

"I wish I was talented at something," I hear Sirius say quietly after awhile. The night sky has deepened now, becoming a velvety expanse of darkest blue.

I abruptly stop my observing and turn back to him with an incredulous expression on my face.

"What are you talking about?" I say in disbelief. "You're good at _everything_ you try, Sirius."

He rises now, and strides over to the railing, eyes cast upwards. "Maybe so, but I don't have _one_ thing that sets me apart, like you,"

"I hardly think that's true," I scoff, abandoning my chart and going over to stand with him. "You wrote that bloody map, for Merlin's sake! Half the population of adult wizards in Britain couldn't do that!"

He shrugs. "I dunno. I sometimes think I'd like to have one thing…"

I raise an eyebrow. "Well I think you're completely mad because you're one of the most brilliant in our year. And you're studying to become an Auror. Not many could do that, either,"

But he doesn't seem pacified by this. He stares pensively out over the grounds, a slight frown across his face. The Great Lake reflects the starlight like a blanket of shimmering silver, and I see the light reflected in Sirius' eyes.

"I'm not exactly pleasing my parents, you know," he says quietly. 

"They're Death Eater sympathizers you know," he whispered. "You don't have to pretend to not know. Everyone knows."

I was frozen still.

"I know," is all I can think to say.

"Even me just being in Gryffindor is a shame to the family," he says, voice barely above a whisper.

"You're lucky you have normal wizard parents, Rora. They'll always be proud, whatever you do."

I looked away form my telescopes now to face him. His brow was furrowed as he stared into space above the grounds. His arms were tensely clutching the railing, his veins popping.

"Sirius," I whisper, taking his hands in mine. "You are not your family,"

He looks to me now, his grey eyes sad. "Aren't I?"

"You aren't," I say with conviction. "You are more compassionate, more intelligent and more good then they can ever hope to be,"

"Sometimes I…" he trails off. He lowers his head and whispers, "Sometimes I'm terrified of becoming just like my parents. You're so lucky to have a loving family, Rora. More than you ever might realize,"

"My family life is far from perfect," I say defensively. "My father is a genius wizard whom has many important friends, yes. But he's also an unorganized mess at home who starts too many projects to finish. And my mother is a muggle who couldn't tell you wolfsbane from chocolate frogs, but she is tickled by the whole world of magic, so I guess she tries. But she still is skeptical of every magical being or object she encounters. So that of course present problems. And I just…get overwhelmed by it sometimes. " I blurt. I don't think I've ever told anyone this much about my family, really. No less Sirius.

Sirius seems amused by this. "But see Rora, that may be so, but that's endearing. There are much worse things to have as parents, believe me…"

I shrug. "I know, I'm not saying I have it worse. It's just…If only you knew how everyone else views you Sirius, you'd have nothing to worry about,"

"I don't care what people think of me," he says simply. He walks back over the wall and sits down again, leaning casually against it with his back.

I turn around to follow him and take a seat next to him on the floor. My arm is leaning against his, and I slowly rest my head on his shoulder.

"Well obviously you do, if you're scared of being misjudged based on your family," I say lightly.

"It's not that simple," he replies, shifting slightly.

"Sure it is," I say.

"I've gone through it so many times with them, I've tried to please them, then I've been the rebellious son, I've tried it all." he whispers.

"Screw them, Sirius," I whisper back. "If they can't see what an amazing son they've got, they clearly don't deserve you,"

I hear him give a gentle laugh, almost no more than a breath. "Well I think it's too late for Mumsie and father to see anything about me, give my moving out and all,"

"Well, all the more reason for you to move on and realize that who you are is not dependent on who came before you or what others think of you,"

I lock eyes with him and we are silent for a moment. I want so much for him to understand me, to know that I care about him.

"You seem to be the only one who understands sometimes, Rora…" he whispers to me after a few moments.

I am silent, pondering his words. _Do I understand him?_

"Surely James understands you just as well as I," I offer, looking back at him. "He's your best mate after all."

"Yes, I suppose…" he trails off again "But at the moment he's a bit distracted,"

I sigh and snuggle myself closer to him. His long hair is falling on my cheek slightly. I can feel the gentle rise and fall of his chest as he breathes. My legs begin to tingle slightly.

I slowly look up at him. His eyes are closed now, almost falling asleep as we sit here together. For a moment he looks younger, almost childlike. The haughty exterior has disappeared for a fleeting instant. I have a desire to stroke his cheek. But I stop myself.

"We should get back," I whisper, as I start to get up. "Or we'll both fall asleep up here and suffer a whipping from Professor Sinistra."

"Mmm," he says, though his eyes are still closed.

"Come on, " I say, rising and this time it's me who holds out my hand.

He opens his eyes to look up at me. There is the lightest trace of a smile as he takes my hand.

Once we are back to the common room, Sirius stops and turns to face me at the foot of the dormitory stairs. All the lights are down now, and it appears everyone has gone to sleep.

"By the way, you _still_ owe me a complete explanation of your map," I point out as I yawn widely. "Don't for a minute think I've forgotten,"

"I'm a wizard of my word," he says with a smirk. "You can hold me to that," 

I smile at him, and he simply smiles back for a moment. We are silent, but the fluttering in my stomach has annoyingly returned.

"Thank you for tonight, Rora," he whispers after a moment, and leans down slowly. I feel the lightest touch of his lips against my forehead. I bite my lip softly, a bundle of nerves seems to have erupted within me. He smiles lightly, staring me down until turning to go up the stairs. I turn as well, climbing slowly up and up until I reach my door.

I open it and practically float to my bed, dropping my things lazily in my trunk at the foot of my bed. I plop down onto my bed, my hand gently touching the spot on my forehead where his lips were mere seconds before. 


	6. The Intruder

Monday morning came with a very unpleasant screech. But it wasn't my alarm clock, it was Ophelia, fluttering in through my open window and giving me an unexpected wakeup call.

" _Ophie_ ," I say in exasperation as I jerk straight up in bed like a maniac.

"Rora, control your animals please," I hear Emmeline groan from the opposite side of the room.

Ophie is lightly pecking my arm, for treats no doubt. I really should have known better than to give her some a few mornings ago, because now it seemed she felt she was entitled to making it a morning routine.

But I cave and reach under my nightstand to a small box and throw one to her and she gleefully gobbles it down and launches off the windowsill and back into the golden morning air.

"Well, I guess I'm up now," I mutter crankily to myself. I read my clock's time. It was only half past six, and I was a whole hour ahead of my normal Monday morning schedule.

I get up and get dressed, pulling a thick woolen jumper over my usual school uniform and slip my legs into the woolen stockings were were allowed and then again into my brown leather boots. The frost on my window seems to indicate another chilly day, and I hastily close it and warm my hands by the small wood-burning heater in the center of the room.

As I do, I mentally review my schedule: Charms and Transfiguration with a free study period in between and Advanced Astronomy at later at seven after dinner.

I quickly pack up my astronomy kit and load my textbooks into my brown worn rucksack and set out for breakfast.

Fully expecting to be the only one of my friends down at breakfast, I am surprised to find Peter sitting on his own at the end of the Gryffindor table when I arrive. The Great Hall is barely occupied as it is, with only the early riser students speckled sparingly throughout. It was not a crowd I was accustomed to, preferring to sleep in when I could. Late nights at the Astronomy Tower tended to do that to a person.

"Hi Peter," I greet him sleepily as I set myself down beside him. He looks up, his face brightening up substantially when he realizes its me.

"Oh hello," He perks up, giving me a grin.

"What has you up so early?" I ask as I tuck into a bowl of porridge and drizzle a light stream of honey on the top.

"Oh, I've been getting breakfast early lately," he says sheepishly. "I prefer the quiet in the morning,"

"It is rather nice, actually," I say, noting the calm atmosphere around us. Quite different than the usual manic rush that I found myself in when gobbling down food before running to class.

"Not to mention, James and Sirius not talking has put a damper on things," Peter continues darkly.  
"It was quite annoying last night, actually. Thought I'd dine alone this morning,"

"Are they still being immature?" I sigh in irritation. "I thought I got Sirius to get over it, he seemed okay last night?"

Peter gives a hollow laugh. "Not so much, he still keeps bringing up Evans and accusing James of shagging her left and right. If it were true, I'd almost be concerned about James exerting himself so much,"

I snort into my orange juice. "I think I've created a monster," I shake my head.

"I mean, it is partially true," Peter adds, as he takes a sip of his gently steaming tea with milk.

"What? James and Lily?" I scoff. "I told you, I shouldn't have started the rumor,"

"No, it is. I caught them snogging in the kitchen just two nights ago," Peter says simply.

My eyes widen. "You're sure it was them?"

"Oh yes, very," Peter answers with a smirk. "I was just trying to get a midnight snack, and there they were, sprawled out against the counter and fruit baskets. Probably frightened a poor House Elf to death,"

"So he _was_ going off to snog her that night," I whisper to myself, thinking of when he ran off so quickly after showing me the Marauder's Map. "But you haven't told Sirius that, right?"

"Oh no, I'm not a dolt," Peter assures me. "I value our sanity. I don't much feel like dealing with that yet,"

"Yet?" I prod. "So you think James is going to fess up to you lot eventually?"

"He had better, I'm not going to keep his secret forever. He owes it to us," Peter answers.

"I just don't know why James hasn't told anyone?" I wonder aloud.

"Troubles me as well," Peter says with an irritated expression on his pale face. "Anyway, I'm going to go post a letter at the Owlry. I'll see you in Transfiguration later?"

"Yeah, see you," I say offhandedly as I wave him off.

My mind ponders this new information…so it was confirmed. James and Lily. Lily and James. Potter and Evans. I couldn't quite believe it. But why was James still being so secretive about it all?

As I continue eating my humble bowl of porridge, my mind is preoccupied. I remember last night, my conversation with Sirius, his sudden insecurity, so unlike how I had ever seen him before…his kiss to my forehead. I was confused. He had become a close friend of mine, I love him in a way, and I might have called it brotherly love before, but perhaps I was wrong…

I am so torn in my thoughts that I do not immediately notice when a figure comes swiftly into the Great Hall.

It was Clarke, one of the Aurors from yesterday in the library. I look up at he passes by my place at the table, and I notice his expression is strained, determined and serious. He looks so different than he did yesterday, with his jovial and charming disposition.

I see him stride swiftly up to the staff table, quietly gesturing to Professor McGonagall. He whispers something quickly in her ear, and she puts a hand over her chest, rises and immediately follows him.

My senses heighten as I watch them leave. McGonagall is white-faced and Clarke is focused as he escorts her out the door.

I turn around to see if any of the surrounding students had noticed, but not many of them seem focused on anything other than their breakfast plates.

My stomach turning upside down, I grab my book bag and abandon my porridge. Suddenly I didn't feel much like eating.

Once I am out in the wide corridor, I am at a loss of where to go. I still had good a half hour to kill before I even needed to think about going to class, so I decide to make myself useful. I head up the stairway to the library.

My mind is still reeling from the odd incident in the Hall, however, and find it difficult to focus on much beyond staring at the same line of text over and over again as I sit in a squishy chair in front of one of the hearths in the library. It was my Charms textbook, as we had been assigned three chapters of reading over the weekend. I had read the assignment through on Friday, but thought I should review it in case Lancaster decided to hold a quiz at the beginning of the class period, as he had so lovingly sprung on us before.

Just as I am about to snap the book shut and forfeit any further attempt at studying, I see James and Lily gliding down the nearest row of books. But they weren't looking at me, instead they were deep in discussion about something, with Lily holding an official looking list, her Head Girl badge proudly displayed on her left breast pocket.

"Oh, hi Rora," James says when he notices me at in the chair. "Blimey, you're up early?"

"Likewise," I reply. "You two doing morning rounds?"

Lily looks at James for a split second before answers, "Er, no, actually just going over this…list,"

I furtively peer over his arm to see that it is a list of student names.

"Oh, what for?" I innocently ask. "I hope it's nothing bad, if I'm on there," I give them a smirk.

"No, actually it's for my party," James says quickly. "Finalizing the guest list,"

My eyes raise. So they were planning together? Like two peas in a pod. "Oh I see," is all I can think to reply.

Lily smiles a little too brightly and eagerly nods in agreement, "Yes, it's shaping to be a fantastic night! Now, James and I really should be heading to Potions,"and they head off as quickly as they appeared.

I sit for another few moments in the chair, before deciding to just get on with it and head to class early. Once I've made it to the Charms class on the third floor, I see that the door has not been opened yet and a few more seventh years are mulling about outside in the corridor waiting. I scan the crowd and am shocked to find Sirius and Marigold chatting near the opposite end. 

"Hey!" I greet them. "You two early? I am shocked,"

"I should say the same to you, Aurora," Sirius says. "I believe you're the one chronically sleeping in around here?"

"Yeah, Emmeline was convinced you'd been kidnapped when we saw your bed empty, because apparently that would be more likely," Marigold says, flipping her golden curls behind her ears.

I roll my eyes. "Ha ha, good one. Ophie woke me up, so I decided to head down early, that's all," I explain. 

"Well, we're here because neither of us felt much like breakfast and Remus was taking forever to get ready, so we decided to come down and look for you,"

For a moment I consider sharing that I saw James and Lily in the library together planning the party, but think better of it. Sirius seemed in a good mood and I didn't feel like spoiling it. "While I was at breakfast, I saw that Auror, Clarke, rush into the Great Hall and deliver some bad news to McGonagall,"

Sirius's eyes become worried. "What kind of news?" He asks flatly.

"I dunno, but they looked serious," I say, biting my lip. "I have a feeling that something's amiss,"

"Perhaps a Slytherin got mauled by a unicorn?" Marigold jokes.

"One can only hope,' Sirius replies with a heartless laugh.

"No, I think it was more serious than that," I say, giving him a disapproving look.

"I suppose James will fill us in on the gossip once he gets back from his Heads meeting," Sirius muses.

"Yes, I saw him and Lily in the library just now," I say carefully.

Sirius doesn't respond, instead becoming evidently fascinated by the fastenings on his robes.

Marigold looks at me, her round eyes questioning, looking between me and Sirius.

"So what on earth is the status between those two?" she asks. "I think we're all quite over this whole will-they-or-won't-they business,"

"It's their business, not ours," Sirius snaps. He runs his hand through his hair once. "I'm for one, not interested in what they get up to in their Heads office,"

"Hmm, well it would be an optimal location for snogging, Marigold says helpfully. I try to keep from laughing as I give her a warning look.

Finally the classroom door creaks open, and the spry form of Professor Lancaster emerges.

"Oh lucky day, our favorite person," Sirius drones.

"Students, good morning. Class is beginning," Lancaster says dryly as he holds his arm out to us, allowing us to enter the room. We all begrudgingly file in, one after another.

"Morning, Professor," Marigold says politely with a smile as we pass. Lancaster just gives a curt nod.

Marigold takes her usual seat front and center but I do not much feel like playing that game this morning, so I silently nod to Sirius and gesture to the back of the room. He gives me a relieved look and we take a seat at the very last table. Marigold turns and gives us a reproachful look, and I shrug apologetically. She rolls her eyes and gives a rude hand gesture behind her back, but I see her smirk.

As I had gloomily predicted, Lancaster assigns a surprise quiz at the beginning of the lecture, much to the dismay of the students.

"Class, might I remind you that you are seventh years and thus on the precipice of your adulthood. Challenges like these are hardly as cumbersome as the ones yet to come," Lancaster says as he passes out the instruction sheets.

Sirius and I exchange unconvinced expressions. "I think I'll take paying bills and being of legal drinking age over a bloody school exam," Sirius whispers in my ear.

"Now, may I ask you take out your quills and remove any notes or books from your desks," Lancaster orders, and there is a reluctant shuffling as the class prepares themselves. I pull out my nearly-spent jar of ebony-colored ink and set of eagle feather quills. Sirius has forgotten his own, so I oblige him and wordlessly hand him one of mine, getting a wink in return.

"Now, you may all begin," Lancaster says once the room has quieted, and I watch as he takes a seat at his desk at the head of the classroom.

"Good luck, I whisper to Sirius. He doesn't look up from his paper, but I see the corners of his mouth lift slightly.

I read the first question:

 _1\. Name the three properties of a successful Entrapment Charm._

I sigh, and dip the point of my quill in my ink bottle and begin to answer. After giving a few lines of what I can only hope is a decent enough response, my eyes lift for a moment. I am surprised to see that Lancaster is staring at Sirius and I. His eyes bore into mine and I quickly avert my glance and return to my quiz. I try to re-forcus.

 _2\. Explain the uses of Entrapment Charms in modern magical life, using an example from the text.  
_  
"Perhaps to trap unsuspecting first years in a broom closet?" I hear Sirius nearly inaudibly whisper to me from the side. I bite my tongue again and look up to see his grey eyes meeting mine. I hate him, I can barely stifle my laugh.

"Students will be sure to keep answers to themselves, please," I hear Lancaster warn with a clearing of his throat. 

I try my best to remain coherent in my responses as I continue through his tediuous questions, but my mind is finding it difficult, still so sleepy from my moring. Waking up early really did not suit me.

Finally, finally, finally, I reach the last question:

 _10\. Name the wizard who was famously fatally injured by his improper use of the Entrapment Charm in 1654._

"Probably was related to Alfie Perkins, I'll bet my wand," Sirius mutters as he sees me reach the last question. I give him a warning look, as a stupid grin becomes plastered on his face. I see, with some envy, that he has already finished his quiz.

"One minutes left, class!" Lancaster announces. He has begun to walk up and down the aisles, and is making his way to the back of the class towards the pair of us. I try not to let my panic set in as I struggle to remember the name of this bloody wizard…

Was it Elias Musgrove? No, that can't be it. Eyvind Errbottom? No, that didn't sound right, either.

"Thirty seconds," Lancaster is standing right over me now, and I can practically feel his breath above us.

Bloody hell what is his name? My quill drips a large blob of black on the page. My hand is shaking ever so slightly.

Errol Flannigan? Erwise Whitely? God, why couldn't I remember?

"Time! Please put down your quills, class!" I hear the cool cadence of Lancaster's order, and my heart drops.

I open my mouth to protest, but Lancaster just smiles and holds out his hand. I reluctantly place my incomplete quiz in his hand.

"Tsk tsk," he says, surveying my empty number ten. "Nearly there, Miss Mockinglow. Perhaps next quiz you will do better,"

The rest of the students have looked back at us now, staring with mixed expressions between pity and amusement. I do not meet their glances, instead trying not to let my disappointment and embarrassment show, but I can feel my cheeks burning.

"Perkins!" Lancaster says, and the blonde spotty Hufflepuff turns his head round in surprise. "Please collect the quizzes and place them on my desk, and the rest of you turn your books to page 205."

But before Lancaster returns to the frton fo the class, he stops and looks at me again.

"Miss Mockinglow, I heard recently that you are studying Astronomy for your N.E.W.T. focus?" Lancaster smiles expectantly at me.

"Yes, that's right," I curse Clarke, knowing it had to have been him who had told him.

"I was previously employed at the Magical Center for Celestial Observatory in London,"

"So I've heard," I say, failing at stifling my disinterest.

"Well you should have said earlier," Lancaster says in surprise. "I would be delighted to assist you in any of your studies. I still have many friends at M.C.C.O. whom I can give a powerful reference for you,"

I stare open mouth at him for a moment. Why was he suddenly trying to help me? I could not make head nor tails of this strange person if I cared to try.

"I'm sure Aurora can manage just fine, she's brilliant all on her own," Sirius pipes up defiantly, staring down our professor. I feel a rush of gratitude towards him.

Lancaster narrows his eyes in Sirius's direction and smirks. "I'm sure of it, too. Do let me know, regardless, Miss Mockinglow," and with that he turns on his heel and begins to pick up the rest of the quizzes as he heads back to the front of the class.

"Git," I say under my breath. I cross my arms. I hadn't left a quiz incomplete for years. I want to punch something.

"If he hadn't been looking over me like some kind of psychopathic Dementor, I'd have finished the quiz," I grumble to Sirius.

Sirius looks sympathetic. "It's alright, one question won't break your grade,"

"Easy for you to say, Mr. I Know Every Answer," I jab. Sirius just smiles and shrugs.

"You're still better at maths," he says helpfully. "and Astronomy, and Herbology, if I recall correctly,"

I roll my eyes. "Stop trying to make me feel better," I say, but can't help but smile. "It won't work,"

Sirius just returns my smile and begins to doodle on his notebook. "Don't sweat the small stuff, _Miss Mockinglow_ ," he says, mocking Lancaster's proper accent.

A half hour later, Sirius' notebook is more or less completely covered in doodles and drawings, me being an equal culprit. We somehow had neglected to take any notes on the lecture whatsoever.

But the lecture is subject to a sudden pause as the classroom door is slammed open violently, revealing the swiftly moving form of one of the Ministry Aurors.

"Forgive me, Professor Lancaster, but we have a situation," the Auror says. He was a large, brawny wizard with reddish hair and a long brown overcoat. I had seen him, mostly on his own, roaming the school grounds on more than one occasion.

Lancaster's face is surprised and he stumbled over his words, breaking his normally cool exterior. "W-What do you mean?"

"There has been a breech of security. I'm afraid we have to lockdown the castle," the Auror explains. "Dumbledore has ordered us to inform all teachers to escort students back to their dormitories at once,"

We all look around at each other in confusion and hesitation.

Right, well, you heard him, students, please queue up single file and head straight to your Houses," Lancaster says over the sudden rush of students packing up their bags and excitedly and anxiously talking

"Lockdown?" Sirius says to me. Marigold sprints back to us, her face worried.

"What in Merlin's name is happening, I wonder?" she breathes. I can only shrug as we make our way out of the room.

"Please, no detours!" The Auror's voice booms as we all rush out the door and down the corridor. As we pass, we can see many other classrooms opening up and more and more students flooding the halls.

Many of the staff and teachers have stationed themselves along the corridor, barking orders and directions to the floods of confusion.

I scan the crowd for any sign of McGonagall or even Dumbledore, but there is none to be found.

Once we make it the Gryffindor Tower, the common room is abuzz with noise and talking. The entire House is packed in, with the Prefects attempting the control the questions and banter.

"Please, everyone, we don't have any information yet! We're waiting on the Heads to come back-" poor Stephanie Sidgewick, sixth year Prefect, is shouting above the teaming noise, looking quite stressed.

We find Remus, Peter and Emmeline shoved in the corner by the large windows and we squish our way through to them.

Remus and Peter are joking together, seemingly unaffected by the chaos. Sirius immediately goes over to them and Marigold and I huddle close to Emmeline.

"What happened?" Emmeline asks. "I was in History of Magic and suddenly one of those Ministry Aurors comes to tell us we've got to go back here,"

"Same thing with us," Marigold says and continues filling her in.

I look over to where Remus, Peter, and Sirius. Apparently they have abandoned their incongruously jovial mood, and are speaking lowly and seriously with one another. I notice Remus is looking quite drawn today, his face pale and his eyes tired. I hoped his chronic illness, the one that had plagued him since I had first met him third year and caused him to miss school more often than not, wasn't sneaking back upon him.

Finally, after a long while of unrest and anxiety, the Portrait Hole opens to reveal James and Lily marching through.

"Everyone!" James shouts over the din. "We have an announcement,"

I eye Sirius, who is surveying the pair of them with the slightest bit of contempt.

James and Lily climb atop the stone hearth, and oversee the throng of Gryffindors.

"We have received word from Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore that the lockdown has been lifted, but that we should all remain cautious and vigilant," Lily explains.

"Cautious and vigilant of _what_?" I hear Ricky Frell shout from the stairs. Many students mutter in agreement.

Lily looks angrily up at him as she curtly responds, "The Headmaster also has promised that a full explanation will be given at dinner tonight. But in the meantime no one is to leave the castle or enter the grounds under any circumstances,"

There is a collective groan of dissatisfaction.

"Right, jolly helpful that is," Sirius shouts.

"He means it, more Ministry Aurors will be arriving for added security within the hour," Lily says. There is a cascade of whispers.

"It must be serious, then," Emmeline whispers to us. "Otherwise there's no way Dumbledore would let the Ministry send more people,"

"What about classes?" a young second year asks above the noise of the crowd.

"Classes for the rest of the afternoon have been cancelled," James responds, and though he normally could have been expected to deliver this information with glee, he looks stern.

However, this news provokes quite a cheer from the crowd.

"HOWEVER! " Lily shouts over the noise. "Professor Dumbledore has asked the students to please take advantage of this free time by catching up on your homework and revision, particularly those of us in N.E.W.T.s preparation," Lily says warningly.

There is more chatting and complaining as the room begins to somewhat dissipate. I turn to Emmeline and Marigold.

"What now?"

"Well, I'm going to go finish my essay that's due for Muggle Studies," Emmeline says. "I may as well take Dumbledore's advice,"

Marigold scoffs. "I don't feel like studying. Are we meant to stay in the Tower until dinner?"

"No, they just said stay inside the castle. Nothing about not being able to wander a bit?" I say.

"But where would be even go?" Marigold moans.

"Fancy some cards?" Remus's voice comes from behind us. He is flanked by Sirius and Peter. James is evidently still answering questions with Lily.

"Exploding Snap?" I ask. Remus nods, holding out his coveted and well-loved deck of cards from his pocket.

"But where? It's way too crowded in here," I gesture to the packed in bodies around us.

"Free recreation hall on the sixth floor," Remus says. "No one ever goes up there, we use it all the time," I had indeed forgotten about that room, it was so out of the way that we rarely bothered going up there. But it would do perfectly.

"Alright, I suppose I'll come along too, then." Emmeline agrees.

"Deal, let's go," I agree.

Before making it out the portrait hole, James calls out to us.

"Oi! Wait up! Where are you headed?" He jumps off the hearth and bounds over to us.

"Just for some cards upstairs, want to come?" Remus offers, holding up his card deck.

"James is clearly busy, let's let him be," Sirius says from behind his back. James looks hurt, furrowing his brow at his fellow Marauder.

"Yeah, I suppose Padfoot's right, I'll catch up with you lot later," He says flatly. Lily looks on in concern.

"You don't have to be so cruel, Sirius," Remus mutters to Sirius once we have made our way out into the corridor. Sirius shrugs it off and doesn't answer, eyes downcast.

"I for one don't know how you are still so worried about James when there is a killer on the loose,  
Emmeline says, brushing her blunt black bangs nervously from her forehead.

"Killer? Who said anything about a killer?" Peter asks.

"Well why else would they lock down the school?" Emmeline answers plainly.

"Let's not jump to conclusions,' Marigold chides, but I notice her cling to Peter more closely as we make our way up a dark flight of stairs.

Once we arrive at the recreation room, we find it mercifully empty as expected. There are a set of long neglected plump chairs arranged around a wooden table, a chess set between two tall bookcases scattered with old textbooks, and even a rusty old wireless on a shelf.

Sirius immediately goes over and turns it on as we spread ourselves around the table and Remus begins to deal out the cards. The signal is fuzzy, but after a few wand taps, Sirius secures a decent station playing rock music and we settle in.

"I wonder if the killer is still here somewhere," Peter wonders aloud.

"There's no way they'd let us come out of our rooms if that were the case," I point out.

"But the castle is still technically locked down, we can't go outside," Peter says.

"Which means that they chased whoever it is out," Remus says. "I'm not afraid,"

"We don't even know if it's a person at all," Marigold says again.

"You're right. It could be a _ghooooost_ ," Sirius jokes, reaching his hands out in a spooky gesture. We all laugh, but Marigold looks unamused.

"I think Hogwarts have enough ghosts as it is," she mutters. "And they're alright!"

"What about a Dementor?" Remus says dramatically, lifting the hood of his cloak in jest.

"Or a Vampire?" Sirius bares his teeth maniacally and sweeps his hair over one side of his face. " _I vant to suck your blood_ ,"

"Or a perhaps a Werewolf?" Emmeline cups her hands around her mouth and howls.

"Wouldn't want one of those around," Sirius says.

"Yeah, I hear they're gits, really," Remus agrees.

"Make terrible company," Peter continues. Sirius, Remus and Peter, find this hilarious evidently.

"Enough chat, can we please get this game started?!" Marigold says evasively. She had always been prone to being scared, always believing superstition and putting way too much stock in our Divination lectures.

"Do Werewolves _frighten_ you, Goldie?" Sirius says, reaching out his hands like clawed paws around her. He growls and bares his teeth. Marigold screams and covers her head, but giggles along with him.

"You're very convincing, Sirius," Remus says sarcastically, giving him mock applause. "Truly inspired,"

Sirius shrugs with another laugh and takes a bow. "I'll be here all term, send your fan letters to my assistant over in Owl Box number twenty three,"

"But you know, a Werewolf really wouldn't growl in that way, it's more of a snarl, wouldn't you say Remus?" Peter says, glancing at his friend with a smirk.

"Oh yes, these things are very nuanced," Sirius adds. "Important to get the details correct,"

Remus rolls his eyes and turns to me and Emmeline. "Ready to start, then?"

And we watch eagerly as Remus starts laying out the deck across the wide wooden table.

Several rounds of Exploding Snap later, our fingers are singed and our mouths sore from laughing, so we decide to head downstairs. Dinner would be starting soon and we were eager to hear what Dumbledore would say about the day's events.

"I've got money that the gamekeeper's last arm got bitten off by an escaped Pixie," Peter says, as we all exchange our theories on what the announcement could entail.

When we finally enter the Hall, we are surprised to find it already teeming with students. Apparently everyone else is as anxious for an explanation as we are. Whispers fill the large echoing room, hung with a cascade of floating candles. I notice that the tables had been decorated with pumpkins, no doubt in preparation for Halloween next weekend.

"Oi Black, where did you lot disappear to?" Marlene asks us when we sit down near her and Dorcas at the Gryffindor table. I notice James and Lily sitting farther down the table, and James does not say hello.

"Don't worry about it," Sirius replies, with a cheeky grin.

"Is Quidditch training still on tonight?" she asks. "The rest of the team is wondering,"

"I can't imagine it would be, but better ask _him_ ," Sirius just nods towards James. 

I roll my eyes. "So dramatic," I chide in his ear to my side, but he refuses to react and only shrugs and takes a sip of water from one of the bronze goblets on the table. Casual to an annoying fault, he was…

Before long, Dumbledore finally enters the Hall from the door at the back of the staff table. He walks solemnly to his guilded podium, and an immediate hush befalls the entire room as the entire school looks on in curiosity.

"Good evening students," he begins, his spangled robes shining in the candlelight. He pauses, and I am fairly certain I'd be able to hear a pin drop.

"This morning we confirmed evidence of an intruder on our grounds," 

Whispers abound, and Dumbledore has to raise his arm gently to gain quiet again.

"We do no yet know who this intruder was, or their intentions, but this morning it became clear that his affiliation was with a group of rogues many of you may know as the Death Eaters,"

My heart drops, and my eyes immediately search for Sirius's. His face is blank and unmoving, and he doesn't meet the eyes of any of us.

"Unfortunately we were not able to apprehend him, but our fine Ministry Aurors were able to drive him from the grounds and are conducting an investigation. The Ministry has been notified and you can rest assure that we are making every effort to ensure that our school remains secure and safe,"

"Blimey, I knew it was a killer!" Emmeline says in triumph.

"As a result of this, I ask that all curfew hours be moved to sunset. No student is to be out of their common rooms after dark, with the exception of seventh year Prefects and our Head Boy and Girl. This shall remain in effect until further notice."

We all groan.

"Sunset?! He must be mental," Marigold grumbles. "What about the library?"

But I am looking to Sirius nervously, "This makes the Halloween party even riskier, you realize,"

"Don't worry, we've got this," he says, not phased.

"So students, in light of these dangerous times, I ask you again to me vigilant. But also to find strength in each other, beyond your own House members. Hogwarts remains united and strong,"

There is a splattering of clapping and talking as Dumbledore returns to his space at the head table.

"Does this mean we're meant to cozy up to the Slytherins?" Remus says. "Because that is not happening,"

"Well I'd still like to know who this 'intruder' was," Emmeline says, her face scrunched in thought.

"You heard him, it was a Death Eater," Sirius says, playing with his tie, which was loosened around his unbutton uniform collar.

"Yes but what could he possibly want here? To recruit?" Marigold muses disbelievingly.

"Or worse," Remus adds nervously.

"What does it mean for us?" Peter begins. "If the war is moving closer?" His face is distant and pale.

"It means we're going to have to be on the alert," Emmeline answers darkly. I think suddenly of my parents. Of my father and his Ministry job. Of my muggle mother, so oblivious to the trickery wizards could achieve. She could easily let a dark one into our home without knowing it. My throat clenches.

"Let's not panic," Remus says assuredly, pouring us all a cup of tea from one of the cast iron pots along the table. "We don't know his motives. This could be a lone wolf situation,"

Sirius coughs into his tea. "Oh?"

Remus glares at him and continues, "He could be a rogue, we don't necessarily know this was a strategic attack,"

"True enough, but that won't make me sleep any better tonight," Marigold says, sipping her tea.

Just then, the empty platters in front of us erupt into life as they are magically filled with piles and piles of food. Roasted vegetables, turkey legs, bowls of steaming soup and buttery rolls are beckoning us, and many of our number having skipped lunch, we all eagerly dig in.

We don't talk much while we eat, which I am glad for. My mind is still on my parents, and the families of others. The War was coming, whatever that meant, and today was further proof of it.

Once dinner has finished, we begin to get up and sleepily head back. I steal a curious glance between Sirius and James, who had managed to very unusually avoid speaking to each other the entire meal. James gives a light pat on the shoulder as she leaves him to join Marlene and Alice, and I watch as James walks straight past our group, his face set in harsh defiance.

"Enjoy your meal, Bighead Boy?" Sirius calls after him. We all freeze, and so does James.

"What did you call me?" James says slowly, through his teeth as he turns back around.

Sirius' face is challenging and amused as he gives his signature casual shug.

Remus glares at Sirius. "Shouldn't have done that," he mutters.

""Would you care repeating that, dear Padfoot, for all the Hall to hear?" James says, his eyes daring Sirius.

Sirius smiles. "All hail Bighead Boy Potter! Who's too good to hang around his _best mates_ ," He practically bellows.

I cringe, and try to grab his hands to get him away from this situation. This could only end badly.

James projects a heartless laugh. "Is that what you think of me, Black?"

"I think you're too busy shagging your new girlfriend to give a damn about what I think," Sirius replies, beginning to walk away towards the door to the Hall.

There is silence in the Hall as Remus sighs and puts his head in his hand, Peter looks quite caught between the both of them, and I stare disbelieving.

Just as I open my mouth to tell them what utter idiots they were being, I am stopped by the sudden blur of James jumping towards Sirius.

Wands discarded, they are in a fighting scuffle before I can even process who punched who first. They are on the ground, the other students forming a circle around them, chanting.

"Enough!" McGonagall has glided over to us and there is a loud bang, a puff of smoke, and Sirius and James are being levitated apart, though not without a fight. Sirius's lip is bleeding and James shirt is ripped.

"Potter! As Head Boy, I expect more of you," McGonagall admonishes sternly, her cheeks flushed in anger.

"Yeah Potter, wouldn't want them to take away your shiny badge," Sirius snaps, spitting blood at his feet.

"Enough Black!" McGonagall flicks her wand again and lets them both down with a harsh thud.

"The pair of you will be serving detention with me tomorrow night. Three hours, my office. And you will learn to get along like the civilized seventh years I hope you are. Now clean ourselves up and leave this Hall immediately,"

Lily runs over to James and helps him up, glaring icily at Sirius as she does. Remus and Peter look hesitant to move, and I suppose they didn't want to have to choose between either of their friends so I save them the trouble and take Sirius's hand, helping him up.

"Thanks," he grumbles, wiping his face, only managing to smear the blood further across it.

"You two are idiots," is all I say as smooth his shirt out. But Sirius isn't listening, and I can track his gaze as he watches James and Lily leave the Hall together, anger still etched on his face.

We walk outside into the Hall, Sirius not looking at me. The rest of the group hurries back towards the Common room, and I notice Emmeline turn back at us with a questioning glance. I wave her off.

When I turn back around, Sirius has headed straight out towards the courtyard, out into the frosty blue night. I sped up to catch him.

"Hey, hang on,"

He sits down on the edge of the statue-flanked fountain in the center of the courtyard, rifling through his pockets for something. There is a light snow falling, blanketing the ground around us in a dusting of white. I wrap my robes tighter around me, but Sirius doesn't seem to mind the temperature.

"Sirius, what the bloody hell was that all about?" I ask, taking a seat beside him and examining his broken lip, gentling taking his face in my hand.

He doesn't answer as he pulls out a cigarette and lights it, not reacting to my prods at his face. I sigh and take out my wand. I mutter " _Scourgify_ ", ridding his skin of the smeared blood in an instant.

"Sirius," I say again, leaning back as I stash my wand back in my robes.

He sighs. "I don't know,"

"James is your best mate," I remind him, pushing back his dark hair behind his ears.

"I know," he says. "I just wish he'd be honest with us. With me," He takes a drag puffing the smoke clouds out around us.

"I think if you'd give him the chance, he would be," I point out. "You've hardly let him,"

Sirius doesn't answer this, instead staring intently into the frozen water in the fountain.

"And frankly, if James had any intent on telling you about him and Lily before, it has probably been scared off quite thoroughly now," I say with a laugh, my mind replaying the way the two had lunged at each other in fury, almost comically dramatic and quick.

"I'm just so messed up," Sirius says, throwing out his cigarette and putting his face in his hands. "I can't lose my mate-"

"You haven't lost him," a voice comes from behind us.

We both look up to find James standing in the threshold of the archway before us. His face is humbled, but sporting a quickly developing black eye. He hesitates before coming closer, scratching the back of his head unsurely.

"Haven't I?" Sirius responds, gazing at James in sadness.

"No," James responds firmly, coming closer. "I'm sorry, I should have been up front about Lily earlier. I was wrong to keep it from you,"

"I was wrong to give you such a hard time, I know now it only made it worse," Sirius gives me an appreciative nod as he says this.

"It's alright. We can forgive and forget, eh?" James shrugs. "Not much can separate the Marauders,"

I notice a smirk forming on Sirius's lips as he continues, "It's just as well, I should have known you'd shag Evans eventually anyway,"

I look at James, bracing myself for an furious retort, but none comes. Instead they share a hearty chuckle and handshake, embracing as brothers. Their shoulders heave with laughter, and I stare curiously at them, as if none of the previous two months had occurred and I was instead staring at the two sixth year boys I was more familiar with.

"I'm so glad I don't have to cut you from the Quidditch lineup, after all," James says in mock relief.

"You know that black eye I gave you just now? I'm _not_ sorry for that, come to think of it," Sirius says, jabbing James in the ribs playfully.

"Boys," I sigh as we laugh together, but I try to hide my wet eyes from the pair of them, knowing they'd never let me hear the end of it. 


	7. The Shrieking Shack

The night of Halloween has arrived. The Great Hall is a picture of festivity, with its many floating pumpkins glowing above us and the tables lined with buttered squash, delectable candy platters, and sugar-spun bats and leaves. The younger students are in a delighted tizzy, licking their lollipops alongside their dinner as they chat away.

Among the seventh years at dinner that night, there is buzzing of excitement for those who were lucky enough to receive an invitation to the exclusive Marauders party. It seemed that James had succeeded in keeping the group small, with the Gryffindor upperclassmen making up the majority, but I still had the distinct feeling that the party would manage to grow out of hand as they were wont to do.

"Rora! Look here!" Remus calls to me from across the table as we eat. He is feasting on a chicken leg and a large bar of chocolate simultaneously. I noticed the general pallor that had plagued him last week had subsided, and he looked comparatively glowing. He holds out a piece of parchment to me. It has a time and location scrawled across it.

"This is our meeting place, pass it down," he whispers with a giddy look.

I glance at it. It is labeled _9 pm, Whomping Willow, only for those who have pledged allegiance to the Marauders. No additional guests allowed._

I laugh to myself and pass it on to Dorcas Meadowes, was seated on my right, who takes it with excitement.

"So you decided to show everyone the secret passage, then?" I ask Sirius and James as they watch with giddiness as the note gets passed furtively around the group of seventh years. I notice Frank Longbottom making an effort to copy down the note in his planner, as if he might forget it.

"Actually….no." James said.

"What do you mean? Why did you have us meet at the Willow then?" I inquire under my breath, with a confused look.

"Well we figured we'd just…walk." James answered sheepishly.

"After all that talk about the brilliance of your plan and showing me the map?" I give them an incredulous look.

"Well, after I convinced James that it was idiotic to expose our brilliance, I decided that we could just as well walk to the village under cover of darkness and fog," Sirius explains.

I raised my eyebrows. "You lot are more indecisive and inconsistent then Marigold trying to pick out a dressing gown for a ball."

"Well you can't be too careful," James defended himself.

"I'm just glad I got to see the map at any rate," I say with a devilish smile.

"And you'll do well not to share, right, my dear Aurora?" James says warningly, with a forced smile plastered on his face. I laugh and nearly choke on my apple cider.

"Of course, of course," I say in a mock serious voice. "I would _never_ reveal your _secrets_ ,"

James narrows his eyes at me. "Though I don't appreciate your sarcastic tone, I will hold you to that," he says, grabbing the chicken leg from Sirius just as he is about to take a bite. James takes a large bite from the chicken and puts it back in his hand hardly before Sirius has time to react.

"Now," James says, mouth full. "Let's talk about laying wagers on who will end up shagging who tonight,"

It's Sirius's turn to snort into his apple cider. Remus, who had been sitting across from us and had been attempting to ignore our conversation, interjects, "Always the picture of subtlety, you are,"

James looks insulted. "Hardly! I'm just bein' me, Moony. Can't fault me for that,"

Sirius lets out a bark of a laugh. "Oh Prongs, this is why you're my best mate,"

"My moneys on Marlene and Ricky, if we're serious about the wager," Peter says to my side. I glance down the table to see Marlene and Ricky, indeed, are sharing a passionate conversation. Marlene is giggling a lot and Ricky is flashing his pearly white smile even more often than was usual.

Sirius seems perturbed at the thought. "Nah, he's too shallow for her,"

"Too shallow? Ricky?" James says sarcastically. To be honest, any lack of intellectualism in Ricky was made up for by his astonishingly good looks.

"Marlene wouldn't go for him," Sirius says, shaking his head as he loads his fork with mashed potato.

"I suppose you _are_ the expert," James says with a small drop of disdain in his voice.

Sirius just smirks. "She likes blokes with a bit more substance, that's all,"

"Meaning you?" Emmeline jabs, rolling her eyes. 

If Sirius is uncomfortable, he doesn't show it. "I didn't say that, you lot read into everything,"

"Well I personally think Goldie and that Ravenclaw Quidditch player are two stops away," Sirius continues, causing Marigold's cheeks to flush.

"Alexander? Please," but I see her steal a glance to the next table, where the statuesque blonde Ravenclaw Seeker was sitting looking more like a model than anyone has any right to.

"Have you been talking to him? God he's fit," Dorcas interjects, following Marigold's gaze.

"Perhaps," she answers coyly.

"And here I thought your heart was solely saved for Lancaster?" Sirius teases. "My mistake,"

Marigold shoots him a steely glare. "I don't fancy Lancaster, I just think he's fit,"

"Ew," is all I care to add to the conversation.

There is a reverberating tapping sound and we look to the staff table to see Dumbledore has risen, no doubt to give his usual Halloween speech.

"Good evening students and Happy Halloween!" his voice booms across the Hall. "I hope that your nights are filled with frivolity and cheer, and that your stomachs will be full of candy and butterbeer!"

"That, and whiskey and more whiskey," Sirius mutters and we all stifle laughs.

"Although All Hollows Eve is a night meant for mischief and fun, I urge you all to remain vigilant, for our world is no longer as safe as it perhaps once was, and our school is not infallible. Our Aurors will be on high alert tonight, so please do not do anything to aggravate their surveillance," 

Perhaps I was imagining it, but I could have sworn Dumbledore's eyes flashed to our spot at the table.

"Is he looking at me?" James hisses to us, looking paranoid.

"Nah," Sirius shrugs. "There's no way he'd know,"

"I can rest easy, however, knowing our Head Boy and Girl to be outstanding students who will undoubtedly guide you all the having a joyful and safe evening,"

"Okay he's definitely looking at me,"

Many of the seventh years look round to James and the rest of us. James' face is nervous, though Remus and Sirius are exchanging devious expressions.

"Now, please enjoy the rest of your feast, and a very Happy Halloween to you all!"

Later, an hour before we were meant to meet at the Willow, Marigold and I were busy getting ready in our dormitory.

Marigold was mulling over her selection of dresses, while I was busy making my wavy hair look acceptable.

"Rora, blue or green?" Marigold asks, holding out her two dress options to me. I survey them, cocking my head slightly to the side. One was a tiny little blue dress with a plunging neckline, and the other was fitted at the waist with a soft silky emerald finish.

"You wear the blue, so I can borrow that green one," I offer.

Marigold grins and without wasting another second, throws the green one towards me excitedly.

"Deal! Oh I love to get dressed up with you Rora, you never do this!"

I laugh guiltily. "Well, I just thought it'd be nice to look…nice tonight." I say awkwardly.

"Well, I'm your girl for that," Marigold says, coming over to my desk where I'm still brushing out my tangled mess of hair. "Mind if I put a little makeup on you?" she asks, taking out her little bag full of no doubt the finest witches beauty products.

"I can do it myself, Marigold. I _have_ worn makeup before," I mutter, not looking up from my mirror. But she grabs a handful of products from her bag and plops down next to me.

"Hold still," she says, and I roll my eyes and close my eyes and let her have her way with my face.

"Just don't put on too much, I don't fancy looking like a clown tonight," I say stubbornly.

"Don't you worry," she says absently, immediately becoming focused.

Emmeline, already dressed in a black lace dress under a dark indigo shawl that matched her raven locks perfectly, comes over to us to watch.

"Rors, you're a babe," she reassures me.

"I'm a master," Marigold smiles as she puts something on my eyebrows. "And you will be the envy of every girl tonight," She does something with a brush that tickles my eye and I bat her hand away for a moment, sending a rain of powder into my nostrils.

I scoff. "Hardly possible," I cough.

"Very possible," Emmeline chimes.

"Since when?" I ask sarcastically.

"Since you and Sirius have become so buddy-buddy,"

"What do you mean 'buddy-buddy'?"

"Please, Rora. Don't try to deny that you and him have been spending more time alone together this term," Marigold says with a skeptical expression.

"I had to calm James down the other night, he was convinced you and Sirius had gone off to snog," Emmeline said. "He was acting like a jealous boyfriend,"

I laugh. "Funny, that's the exact thing I've been having to do with Sirius about James and Lily,"

"But were you really snogging?" Emmeline asks. Her dark eyes are intense with curiosity. 

"You can tell us, we're your best friends after all," Marigold says.

I shoot them both a glare. "No. It's just Sirius has felt a bit…lost…lately. I think he's finding it hard not having James around as much, what with all his Head duties,"

"And his preoccupation with Lily," Marigold adds.

I sigh. "I suppose,"

"So there really isn't anything between you two?" Emmeline continues.

I pause. Was there?

"I really can't say anything other than we're god friends and I care about him a lot," I say, hoping that wouldn't incite any more speculation. Luckily, Marigold seems satisfied with this answer, but Emmeline remains unconvinced.

"Whatever you say, Rora…"

"Alright, I think w're done," Marigold drops her hand from my face.

I gaze at myself in the mirror. My brown eyes have been topped with a delicate lining and my cheeks have been smoothed over with a soft coral blush. Though I had experimented with makeup every once and again throughout the years, I never had achieved the classic sophistication these simple touches had. Something about the way they transformed my face by doing so little surprised me. I was still me, yet now different somehow.

"Wow, Marigold…" I say, turning my head to one side and then the other slowly. "Thank you, it actually looks really nice."

Marigold simply beams and gives my shoulders a quick yet soft pat. "Told you I'm a master…now let's finish getting ready, we've only got twenty minutes!"

We sneak out the portrait hole, careful not to attract attention from the lingering younger students still up in the Common Room. Our dresses are covered in thick black cloaks, and our heads covered in scarves and woolen hats. We could be simply going out for an innocent (though still against the rules) evening walk. No one would suspect much beyond that.

Once we get out into the corridor and down to the ground floor, we spot Sirius, Peter and Remus waiting near the large wooden doors. They too are wearing thick cloaks. Sirius's is bulged out on one side, undoubtedly smuggling our supply of firewhiskey.

They look up when they hear us approach. "Rora! Goldy!" Sirius exclaims in a half whisper, half yell.

I smile and nearly bounce over to greet them. Peter gives a squeak of a hello and a wave and Remus nods.

"You lovely ladies prepared for the supreme night of debauchery ahead?" Sirius asks with a devilish grin.

"Naturally," I smile, though I am slightly nervous. I still am at a loss of how the night will pan out. But my trust in Marauders' cleverness and planning genius has extended quite far up until now.

"Where's James?" Marigold asks, peering around her.

"Already out there waiting," Remus answers dryly. He still looks quite nervous and his face is whiter than yesterday.

"Speaking of which, we better get going," Sirius said, gesturing for us to follow him. He bows his back slightly and takes out his map, careful to keep it in his view only, I assume because of Marigold and Emmeline's presence.

"Coast is clear," he whispers and leads us out the great wooden doors. The wind chill of the night immediately hits us. I wrap my scarf tighter around me.

The mist hangs low on the ground as we descend the slopes towards the Whomping Willow. There is a slight scattering of stars, but most are consumed by the clouds above. The moon is a waning gibbous, approaching closer and closer to full and its silvery light sheds all around the ground, creating a lit path for our stumbling feet.

The silhouette of the tree looms closer as we walk down. Its branches are stagnant and barren of leaves, but they twitch every so often. I look up at it nervously as we approach. I never did like that tree much.

When we finally reach it, we see a group of people already waiting, careful to give it a wide berth. I spot James, standing proudly at the forefront of the group with a tall walking stick planted in the dirt below him. Next to him is a skeptical looking Lily, Marlene, Alice and Dorcas, with at least a dozen or more fellow seventh years.

"Hello, mates," James says to us, beaming as he surveys the group. Just then, a small group of Ravenclaw seventh years come up behind us, looking skeptical but excited. I am shocked at the turnout.

"Well, this is everyone I believe, let's head out my fellow comrades!" James declares, holding up his walking staff and pointing it eastward towards the village.

And the group makes to follow him, shuffling our feet as we go. I walk alongside Sirius, making sure not to trip over the uneven, muddy ground. Marigold is clutching onto Remus for dear life, clearly a bit nervous at the impending dark path. Lily and Marlene are cautiously beside them, looking more and more skeptical with each step.

"So, this shall we interesting," I mutter out of the corner of my mouth to Sirius. His mouth breaks into a smirk.

"Indeed. But I think we'll pull it off," he says.

I cock my head back and forth, "We'll see,"

After walking for what feels like quite awhile, we finally reach the outskirts of the village. Through the mist, we make out barely the outline of the Shrieking Shack. I hear Marigold audibly gulp in fear behind me.

"Alright everyone!" James yells to the group. "We're going to have to shimmy underneath the gate,"

"We're not going in there?" a Ravenclaw bloke shouts incredulously. "It's haunted!"

"Have you not told them about the location?" I ask Sirius. He just shrugs. "It was a surprise,"

James sigh exasperatedly. "It's fine, I've been in before. It's perfectly safe,"

But many of the other kids look skeptical. James plunges forward, however, and we have no choice but to follow.

We approach the tall, dilapidated fencing that surrounds the Shack's grounds and, not without difficulty, pries up a bit at the bottom.

"He's got to be kidding," Marigold mutters, agitated. Lily too agrees, looking more and more annoyed.

But James simply gestures to us and we one by one we are forced to crawl through the hole, the frozen dirt beneath us catching on our coats.

Once we are all through, James guides us to the Shack's door. He pries it open and rushes us through, urges us to keep quiet. "Quietly everyone, don't want to disturb the _ghouuuuls_ and _ghooosts_!" and gives a maniacal laugh matched by Sirius, Peter and Remus. Marigold looks frightened to death and she practically pushes one of the Ravenclaw boys out of the way to get inside first.

As we step into the dark room, the floor creaks under our many shuffling footsteps.

"Make yourself at home, my good friends," James announces as he uses his wand to conjure up little orbs of light that set the whole room up in a soft warm glow.

The room, which looks to be a sort of drawing room, isn't large. The wallpaper is peeling and faded, and what is left of the furniture looks hacked away, as though attacked by some wild beast. There is a staircase to the right and a nook just below it, and over on the opposite end is a grand fireplace, which is covered in a thick layer of long-neglected ash and soot.

"Hm…well I suppose this could be worse," Marigold offers as she steps inside, removes her jacket and sets it on the destroyed and tattered sofa.

The rest of the group of us, slightly nervous at first, begins to break up as we group off. Lily and Marlene stand at one end of the room with a pair of blonde Ravenclaws girls. Peter sits with Remus on the edge of the large broken sofa, which has large gashes torn from it as if from some large horrible beast. Remus looks at it uneasily.

As I walk farther into the room, I cough as the dusty air films my lungs up and Marigold has to pat me hard on the back until I am able to breathe properly.

"Thanks, I croak weakly, stepping over to survey the large cracked fireplace.

"Looks like you could use a drink," Sirius murmurs to me with a grin. He takes out a large rucksack from beneath his cloack and empties the firewhiskey bottles onto a crooked dusty table in the corner. Peter saunters over with the stacks of cups and places them beside the bottles, looking positively upbeat.

Sirius hands me a cup, fills it with the burning liquid and offers it to me. I take it, surveying its odd golden quality. Sirius fills a cup of his own, just as James calls out, "And music, Sirius?"

Sirius grins and pulls a large wireless from his bag next, and prods it with his wand until streams of loud rock music echoes off the vaulted ceilings of the shack. This seems to put most of the group at ease, as people remove their cloaks and jackets and begin to help themselves to drinks.

James is busy handing out drinks with Peter and Sirius. Sirius is chatting with a few of the Ravenclaws as he does.

I decide to get comfortable. So I slowly remove my jacket to reveal my tight green dress beneath it. Sirius catches sight of me from the corner of his eye and for a moment pauses in talking and serving drinks and I see him look my body up and down. My heart skips a beat and I try to ignore my blush and stare back, a smirk playing at the corners of my mouth.

"Dance with me?" Emmeline's voice comes from my side. She holds out her arm and I smile and take it, and we do a few spins in the center of the room. Many of the other seventh years seem hesitant to join.

"Marigold! You!" Emmeline shouts and Marigold, drink in hand, saunters over and joins our little circle. Somehow, this seems to incite the rest f the crowd to join and I am pleased to see many of them beginning to dance alongside us. Marlene and Ricky couple up to our left while Dorcas and a Ravenclaw boy start an exuberant display.

Remus and Peter join, though I see Sirius and James still busy pouring drinks on the side by the table.

After several minutes of dancing, I start to get a little winded so I slip out from the grasp of my friends and go over to refill my cup.

"Please mu, may I have some more?" I joke, holding my cup out to Sirius. He looks at me blankly, but amused.

"Oh right, sorry, Muggle reference," I say, laughing. My mother had never shied away from exposing me to Muggle literature and pop culture.

He just grins and shakes his head as he slowly pours more whiskey into my cup.

"Are you going to join the dancing or just stay here and work like a House Elf?" I ask over the bass of the music.

"Soon enough, just have to make sure everyone is well and pissed first," he says. "Drink up, lass,"

I smirk and take a long gulp from my cup. Was it me, or where the orb lights James had conjured blurring…? I notice my lipstick has smudged all over the lip of the cup.

"Marigold is going to kill me for ruining her masterpiece," I laugh to myself. 

"Speaking of Goldy," Sirius says, his eyes now surveying something behind me. "Look's like we've got a train headed down the path of wreckage already,"

I hear Marigold give a loud giggle and turn to see her dancing with Peter, her drink ikely to spill any moment. She sips it to prevent this and takes a hearty gulp. I swear her cheeks have already begun to flush with intoxication.

I laugh and shake my head. "Oh dear, here we go,"

"Three galleons she ends up back at Ravenclaw tower with Alexander the Great," Sirius wagers, pointing to the huddle of Ravenclaw boys that Marigold was now working to enter.

"No, I refuse to bet on my best friends shagging habits," I say laughing. He matches my laugh and takes another long swig from his drink. I can smell the strong scent as he breaths after his swallow, mulled together with his own scent (whether cologne or something else, I couldn't tell).

"Why? I do it all the time with mine," he jokes, though I see his expression falter slightly when he looks round to find James and Lily talking in the corner. He takes another sip of his drink.

"So let's talk about the map, yes?" I suggest suddenly, changing the subject. "You still haven't given me my full explanation you promised!" and I knew this was the perfect place to corner him.

The corner of his mouth becomes upturned for a moment before he takes his cup in one hand, and with the other guides me over by the small of my back to another less occupied corner of the room, near a bent old brass colored lamp that has long since lost its bulb.

"Automotive, dimension and tracking charms mostly, among other enchantments," Sirius says. "It took several trials and errors though, believe me,"

"Hmm, interesting," I say, pondering this. "And why couldn't you tell anyone? Namely, me?"

Sirius smiles, "We've got to keep an air of mystery, you know," he explains. "Otherwise the mystique of the Marauders is ruined,"

"What about the Marauder's mystique?"

Remus has joined us now, having extricated himself from the dancing. His sandy hair is mussed and his face relaxed.

"Just explaining to dear Rora about the finer workings of our map," Sirius explains.

"Ah yes, of course," Remus nods faux-seriously, like an old Professor.

"But why keep it so under wraps? Is it really that big of a deal, besides potentially being against the rules?" I press.

"Well, it's dangerous to let people know," Remus explains, with an almost sheepishly apologetic look on his face. "I was fuming when Sirius and James told me that you knew, but I realized you're you and aren't a risk. But we still can't go around telling everyone, no matter how much James and Sirius like to show off,"

"Hey-" Sirius starts to object, but I interrupt him.

"But really, how dangerous could it be?" I say with a humorless laugh, raising an eyebrow and taking another sip. "It's just a map,"

Remus stares at me for a moment, looking slightly confused, before continuing, "Wait, how much did they tell you?"

"Enough, we told her enough," Sirius says hurriedly, and puts his arm across my shoulder.

"What do you mean, enough?" I ask as I take a long gulp from my cup. I wobble slightly, whether from the drink or the weight of Sirius's arm, it's hard to say.

But before I can inquire further, there comes a screech from across the room.

"Rora!"

Marigold's giggle distracts me as she pulls me away and exclaims, "Rora, _I love_ this song! Dance with me!"

I burst out laughing, "No, not now, I'm taking a break-" but she's taken hold of me and doesn't seem like she'll let go anytime soon.

"Come have a dance with me, please!" she pleads again, as I struggle to get back to my conversation.

"But Sirius-" I try to explain but Marigold has me swaying with her to the blasting music, and as much as I had wanted to continue my conversation about the map, I suddenly am laughing along side her.

"Oh Rora, you look positively drunk!" she announces with a giggle. "Look at your flushed cheeks!"

I laugh and humor her as she flails around, he hair becoming steadily more frizzed as the night goes on.

Sirius and the others join in on the dance crowd now. Sirius uses his wand to amplify the music, turns down the lights to a soft blue that ignite a spectrum of cascading sparks above our heads that illuminate the room in a rainbow of color and light. To my right, I spot a very drunk looking Lily dancing with James, who looks more thrilled than I've ever seen him at his situation. He has his hands on her waist and she is giggling like mad.

Sirius moves close until our bodies are pressed together, whether on purpose or from the pressure of the moving bodies around us, I don't know or care. He wraps his arms around my waist and brings me even closer. I hesitantly reach out my hands to wrap them around his neck. I can smell his cologne, feel his torso against mine. The alcohol has made me clumsy, and he ends up half holding me up as we move to the music. I look up at him and he's looking intently at me, with a twinkle in his eyes. My legs feel like they're on fire with tingles and my stomach won't sit still.

When the song finally ends, some of us break apart form the crowd. I let go of Sirius and give him another smile. We say nothing, just smirk at one another. I feel like I'm on fire and doused in the most comfortable liquid all at once. I just turn around to make my way back over to the table with the drinks. I've finished two now. I grab a bottle and pour myself some more.

I gulp my drink down as I make my way back over to Remus, who is now laughing and chatting with Emmeline and Marigold.

His bright expression falters for a moment and he looks concerned when he catches sight of me. "Rora, how many drinks you had?"

I laugh again, "Who could say?" I sway on my heels. "Say…what were you saying about how much they told me earlier?"

Remus looks uncomfortable again. "I…it doesn't matter."

"No, no Remus" I say. "I remember, you were going to say something…" But I trail off as I catch sight of Sirius, who is now across the room laughing and talking to Marlene and a few other Gryffindors. Sirius is the tallest in the group, and he is very much the center of attention. They all stare admiringly up at him as he recounts a story or joke for them. Marlene is slowly biting her lip as she stares intently at him, one of her hands grasped around his forearm. Evidently she has forgotten all about Ricky.

"Rora, you okay?"

I snap back to where I am and mutter, "Yes, never mind."

I make my way across the floor towards him. I feel positively invincible. I am simultaneously weightless and heavy, my face is hot and my mouth is dry but I don't care.

When I reach the group, I smile silently at Sirius and he stops and stares back for a moment before saying, "Excuse me, mates." Marlene looks around at sees me, and gives me an unmistakably snotty expression. But Sirius, not taking his eyes off me, pulls away from the group and leads me to the alcove to the left, underneath the stairs

I cling to his shoulder as I walk, for my legs feel like jelly and my face is still hot.

"Enjoying yourself, hmm?" Sirius mocks, but he too slurs and stumbles. I notice he has one of the bottles of firewhiskey in his hand all to himself, now nearly empty.

"Oh yes, quite!" I say with a hiccup. I barely am able to stand straight up anymore.

"You are positively _wasted_ , Rora," he laughs, looking me up and down as I rest haphazardly against the corner of the wall.

"You aren't too better off yourself," I giggle as I poke his chest playfully.

He laughs and looks down for a moment before placing his arms on my shoulder. "Take it easy though, eh? Don't overdo it,"

"Okay _Professor_ , okay _Mum_ ," I tease.

"Where's your drink gone?" he asks, now noticing my empty hands.

"I finished off three…four? Now…" I try to explain.

"Oh Rora, you delicate one," he teases as he takes a large swig from the bottle.

"Oh, delicate am I?" I say as I raise an eyebrow. I smirk and grab his bottle, take a long hard gulp and try to suppress my wince of pain as the liquid sears my throat.

 _That was probably a bad idea._

Sirius' eyes widen as he laughs in surprise. "My mistake. This is the first time I believe I have ever seen you this drunk, Rora."

"Me too," I laugh, my head starting to spin a bit. But my belly feels delightfully warm.

He looks down at me and I just grin up at him. He quickly, before I have time to process it, gives my lips a sloppy yet light kiss. My body surges with energy. I am frozen. My hands fall limp to my sides and my body surges with sensations I hadn't quite experienced before.

But he just smiles again as he parts his lips from mine, as cool as ever. And before I can respond, there is a loud whistle from behind us. We peak back over into the main room to see James and Peter standing up on a table, unidentified objects in hand. Their faces are filled with mischievous glee.

"Oi! Partygoers! Friends! Fellow students!" James shouts above the noise of music and chatter. The people quiet down and turn their attention towards the two.

"You didn't really think we, the Marauders as it were, would throw a party with no…sparkle and bang, shall we say?"

And with that Peter and him release the foreign objects from their hands and there is an eruption of light, sparks, noise and smoke above our heads.

Everyone cheers as bouncing spikes or fire and color multiply beneath the ceiling and whistle in all directions. I laugh as several girls shriek with glee and bend down in surprise.

When the smoke clears, James and Peter give a bow and saunter off the table with gleeful looks on their faces.

"Oi Prongs!" Sirius dashes away from me now to join James and Peter, laughing. "Way to let a mate know about a trick!"

"Apologies, dear Padfoot, from the bottom of my heart." James says in mock apology.

But Sirius isn't angry. Instead he high fives his friends and talks energetically with them for a few moments about what I assume to be firecracker logistics.

After an amount of time that in my drunken state I could not possible guess at, I make my way back over to the fireplace where the drinks are set up and spot Marigold. She is hanging off the side of the fireplace's mantle, drink in one hand. She's staring up at Alexander, who is recounting a hilarious story to the group. When I join them, he gets pulled away by one of his teammates who have started a drinking game involving cups and a stolen quaffle.

"Rora," she slurs when I join her, with a determined tone of urgency in her voice. "You _have_ to see Alexander play this…Isn't he's _gorgeous_?" She points over to him, as he swings and dunks the quaffle in a large pot of alcohol. Everyone cheers.

"He's _completely_ mad for me, I can tell," she says with a look of glee on her face.

I laugh. "I think someone owes Sirius two galleons…" I mutter, stifling a laugh.

Marigold's shiny round face cocks to the side for a moment, "What do you mean?"

"Oh nothing!" I say with a laugh. "Did I thank you for making me pretty tonight?"

Marigold claps her hands together. "Oh yes, Rory, you look positively radiant!" she exclaims. "I don't know if you saw, but I counted at least five boys who have been looking at you tonight. You're a right looker now!" And with that she erupts in a fit of giggles. I blush and smile.

"Well, I've only got one boy on my mind…" I whisper with a smirk. "Speaking of…" My eyes search the dark, smoky and crowded room for Sirius.

But I can't find him. "Hang on one second, Marigold, I'll be right back," I tell her as I make my way back over across the room, searching.

I spot James and Lily, furiously snogging on the broken sofa. Remus and Peter and Emmeline are laughing about something together. A group of Gryffindors are still dancing in the middle of the room. There is a Ravenclaw girl slumped down against the wall, passed out.

I finally reach the stairway and peer behind it in the alcove. It's empty. I suddenly hear a bark-like laugh from upstairs. I recognize it as Sirius's and I smile.

"Found you," I say to myself. I wonder if he had gone up there on purpose, waiting for me.

I ascend the steps as fast as my drunken stupor will allow. Once I reach the landing, all visibility is lost. There is a thicker coating of dust up here, and all the doors I can make out are closed. But suddenly I hear a thump in one room and voices. I am confused, wondering why he's up here shut up in a room. I head over to the door and open it, peering inside.

My heart drops at what I see. Sirius is pressed up against a girl on the other side of the room, her back to me. She sloppily is clutching his back and straddling him, her skirt barely on and shirt unbuttoned. Sirius's dark hair is blocking his face, but I can hear him laughing and whispering to her.

I am halfway through the door, but they haven't so much as noticed me. I am struck and frozen.

The girl is gazing up at Sirius, and with a laugh she playfully brings her lips sloppily to his.

Sirius grins and takes her waist in his arms and kisses her back, half giggling the entire time, still completely unaware of me watching them. His mouth meets her lips, her neck, her chest, as she erupts into a wild fit of laughter. It is with a rush of anger and embaarassment that I finally recognize her: It was Marlene.

My heartbeat grows fast and I turn, a hot flush seething through my face. Suddenly, I'm feeling light headed. I shut the door quietly behind me. I walk as best I can down the stairs and back towards where corner where Emmeline, Remus and a few others are still blissfully and drunkenly laughing together.

"What's wrong Aurora?" Remus asks immediately when he spots me.

But I cannot form words. My embarrassment and confusion seems to have made a mute of me, as I stand there in the middle of the room.

"Are you sick? Do you need me to take you to the bathroom?" Emmeline asks. Her face, just seconds ago glowing and jubilant, is now hard and concerned.

"No, I'm…fine," I say absently. I'm not sure what to say, where to go. My mind is reeling in confusion. I stare around me atht elaughing people, dancing and kissing and drinking. _Now_ I felt sick.

"I...I think I have to go," My voice cracks and I try to find my coat on the floor in the dark.

"Why? What happened?" Emmeline asks, coming over to help me. "Please talk to me,"

"I…I can't." I am a mess of strangled words and embarrassment as I try to choke back idiotic tears.

"Rora, what happened?" Remus asks more firmly now. "Are you alright? Did someone hurt you?"

"I just need to go back to the castle," I make my way to the door.

"Remus, get Sirius, I need help," I hear Emmeline's voice form behind me, but I don't stop. 

As I enter the cool night, I realize it has started lighting snowing while we've been inside. I wrap my coat tighter and trudge through the mud and sleet.

 _I am an idiot. I can't believe I've been acting like such a fool._

There are hot tears pooling in my eyes now, which only furthers my humiliation and anger at myself.

 _I should have seen this coming. I've known him long enough to realize his games. I'm no more special than the next girl._

"Rora _! Aurora!"_

I am surprised to hear his voice booming widely across the frosty slopes behind me.

I don't turn around, knowing that if I do I will only embarrass myself further. I wonder how Remus was able to extricate him so quickly from Marlene.

But my intoxication stunts my ability to go much faster, and I stumble and slip, finally falling down onto my knees in a heap. My head is spinning and I try to right myself, but he's already there, lifting me up to face him.

"Where do you think you're going?" He's smirking now, as if he's caught a child in a game of hide-and-seek, haughty confidence still plastered across his face.

"I want to go to sleep. I'm over the party. Please let me go," I struggle to continue, my lips locked into a hard line, my eyes avoiding contact with his. I don't want him to see the evidence of my stupid tears.

"But wait!" He's in front of me again, blocking me. "I was thinking, you know…maybe we could.." he trails off in a slur, in an almost suggestive manner. He's smirking.

I can't believe what he's saying, a mere few minutes after me just seeing him with Marlene.

"Could what?" I say, anger and cold causing my hands to tremble. "Snog? Shag? What exactly were you planning?" He looks taken aback at this, though he's still got that stupid drunken grin on his face.

"Well maybe, I was just planning on-" He tried to say but I cut him off.

"Planning on it, were you?" I spit at him. "And was I planned for before or after you snogged the oh, second or third girl tonight?"

This wipes the grin off his face. His face is riddled with confusion now. "Rora, I don't know what you mean, I-" but he falters. "Please, why are you so upset?"

"I think Marlene might know," I hiss darkly. His face falls at this and he says nothing.

I take a deep breath for a moment, trying to collect myself. "Look Sirius," I say firmly. "Go back to the party. I'm done with it."

But he won't give up that easily. "Please, I'm sorry Rora. I don't know why you're getting so upset…"

And now my firmness fails me and I am at a loss for words. I am stuck in a trap. What can I even say to him?

That I had a stupid schoolgirl crush and now I'm mad that some other girl got to him first? Or that he obviously wanted someone else? Even though I had gone through years of watching him snog other girls, without giving it another thought.

Instead, I just look at him, staying intently into my eyes, awaiting my explanation.

"I am confused. I thought…" I look at the ground again. I have lost my firm footing in this argument. The hot tears have returned. I hurriedly wipe them away, willing him not to notice.

"What?" Sirius pleads. "Rora, you're my friend. I don't want to see you upset,"

"I thought we…" I can't finish. I feel like an idiot.

"You gotta give me something here, love." He says softly with almost a smile, and puts his hands on my shoulders gently.

I furrow my brow. I am suddenly angry again. "See…that. Don't do that." My voice cracks, barely above a whisper.

He looks bewildered. "What do you mean? What are you talking about?"

I shake his hands from my shoulders and step back. "Don't call me _'love'_. Don't smile at me like I'm yours. Don't hold my hand. Don't hint at things. Don't make me want you. Don't do any of it, Sirius," I say, my voice starting to shake again. "Unless you intend to do something about it."

His face, whether effected by the whiskey or not, looks bewildered and taking my chance, I quickly turn around and make my way back towards the castle, willing my feet not to slip.

This time he doesn't follow. And I don't look back.

As I stumbled up the slopes to the castle, I trip and stumble on a rocky ledge. I call out in pain, and when I lift myself back up, I find myself staring into a bright light.

I stumble backwards in fear, and I can just make out the form of a man. Terrified, and thinking of the nameless intruder from two weeks ago, I let out a shriek. The man moves his wand to my face, illuminating it in all of its doubtless terror.

"Aurora Mockinglow? What on earth are you doing out here in the middle of the night?"

I stare wide-eyed at the faceless man, who evidently knows my name, until he lifts the wand to his face so I can see him.

Like a deer caught in the proverbial headlights, I realize that it is not a Death Eater, but is the good-humored Auror Clarke.

"Mr. Clarke!" I say. "Oh thank god, it's just you,"

"Don't count your lucky stars just yet," he says warningly. "Explain yourself," 

"I-I-I," I stutter, my mind reeling, grasping for some logical excuse. I try to right myself, lifting myself back up. "I was going for a walk,"

"A walk?"

"Yes," I say, giggling nervously as if this was a perfectly innocuous activity for a girl to be partaking in past midnight in the freezing cold.

"The grounds are off limits, you should know that," he says, surveying me curiously.

"I know, I'm sorry, I was heading back, I promise, honest," I say.

But he is still staring at me with measured suspicion and he shines the light closer to my face. I wince and blink, the light was so very bright.

"Miss Mockinglow, are you inebriated?"

"Oh no, no, not me," I hiccup unhelpfully. He is about to open his mouth, no doubt the condemn me, when a strangled voice comes shouting from behind us.

"Aurora! Aurora! Don't hurt her!"

Sirius comes bounding up to the pair of us, his arms flailing wildly.

"Ah, Black, what a surprise," Clarke says with sarcasm. Sirius stops in his tracks, recognizing him.

"Are you drunk as well?"

Sirius narrows his eyes, looking between me and the Auror. "No," he says.

Clarke gives a short, unconvinced laugh.

"Are you alright, Rora?" Sirius asks, looking to me in confusion. "I heard you scream,"

"I'm fine, he just startled me," I say curtly. "I don't need your help,"

"Right, well, I suppose I'll just be off then," Sirius says, his eyes looking hurt, as he turns to leave.

"Not so fast," Clarke reaches out his arm and grabs Sirius by the shoulder. "I need an explanation of what you two are doing piss drunk in the middle of the grounds,"

"We were taking a walk, as I said," I try to lie. But I never was much good at lying.

"Are there more of you? Having a nocturnal party?" Clarke looks around as if expecting to find a gaggle of students behind a bush.

"No, sir, just us, that's all," Sirius said in feigned earnest.

"Come on lad, I was a Hogwarts students once too. I know you lot were partying out here," he smirks.

We are both silent. I cross my arms in frustration. This was the last place I wanted to be.

"Look, there's a serious security situation going on, and I can't have Dumbledore finding out I let a party continue under my command," Clarke presses, though he seems torn.

I knew he was just trying to make sure we were safe, but suddenly James's face pops into my head. If he was caught orchestrating a party off school grounds, he was sure to be stripped of his Head Boy position, or worse, expelled.

Knowing the pain that would cause our friend group, I find my mouth is moving before I know what I'm saying. "No, believe me Mr. Clarke. It was Sirius and I…fooling around. I'm sorry. It's my fault, it was my idea to come for a walk and bring a bottle of whiskey,"

Sirius looks to me in surprise. "Yes, sir, we were being stupid,"

I'm not sure Clarke believes us, but something in his eyes resembling pity seems to convince him.

"Alright, I'm willing to believe you, but I'm still going to have to turn you into your Head of House,"

Relief courses through me. I could handle this, as my track record was fairly unmarked. McGonagall would be mad, undoubtedly, but reasonable to me.

Sirius, however, looks panicked. "Please Clarke, if McGonagall finds out, I'll be done for,"

I look at Sirius. He was usually on good terms with the professor, and indeed even could charm her into letting him off if he wanted, so I am curious at his fear.

"Can't you administer detentions? I'll surrender to detention for two nights!" Sirius almost begs.

Clarke considers this, looking uncomfortable. "I'm not sure, I should really report this,"

"Detention for a week?" Sirius continues helpfully.

Clarke sighs. "Fine, detention with me every night for the week, starting Monday at 6 pm. In the Auror office, fourth floor."

Sirius looks relieved, and his eyes move to mine, but I am determined to ignore him Though I am grateful for his talking us out of more punishment, it doesn't erase the prior events of the night.

"You cannot breathe a word of this to any of the staff, I don't fancy losing my job," he warns. "I'm doing you two a great favor, by the way,"

"Yes, we are very grateful," Sirius says. He turns to me and gesturing towards the castle, as if we would walk on our merry way back.

"Wait, Black. You two are following me, I'm going to have to escort you to your Common Room," Clarke says, and takes both of us by our arms and guides us up the slopes towards the castle.

We walk in silence, me trying my best not to trip and trying even harder not to look at Sirius. With the threat of serious punishment off the table, the hurt and embarrassment of earlier begins to seep back into my mind.

One we make it to the Portrait Hole, Clarke drops us off with a stern reminder of our detention dates, and we continue in without another word to each other, with only the prospect of a week's worth of glorified confinement with Sirius to look forward to.. 

Could this night be any worse?

"Rora…" Sirius tries to talk to me when we reach the forking dormitory stairs, but I don't so much as acknowledge his presence. I can't bear to look at him. I let my footsteps on the marble stairs be the only sound he hears as I leave.

When I enter my room, I see there's a small fire crackling in the corner for warmth from the chilly air outside, but my face is flushed still and I feel hot. Emmeline and Marigold are still gone, and I hope that they make it without intercepting any other Aurors. I feel like we should have warned the rest of the party-goers, but it occurs to me that James still has the Marauder;s Map, and that they should be able to navigate back unseen.

Feeling quite overwhelmed, I dash over to the window as quickly as my drunken state will allow and throw it open, and let myself lean against the windowsill. I remove my coat and throw it angrily over the edge of bed. The clock above my bed chimes one a.m. I close my eyes for a moment, letting the cool air calm my reeling head.

After a while, I gently open my eyes to survey the grounds below. The mist, still low hanging over the grounds, does not reach up farther than that, and I can clearly see the stars and moon above the highest turret of the castle.

I sigh, as I identify my favorite constellations. I outline them in my head. I recite all of the names of the stars. This calms me for a moment, as I am comforted by the familiar patterns in the sky. This is what I always would do when I was younger, in times of great fear or anxiety. I'd just recite the stars, just like my father taught me on winter night with telescopes. Nothing else had ever quite calmed me in the same way.

My eyes scan further, searching for new star systems to identify until finally I come upon one of the brightest stars in the sky: the Dog Star. _Sirius_.

And suddenly I feel sick to my stomach. I bend over double, clutching myself. I desperately grab for the washing bowl near my bedside table but it's too late; I am sick all over the floor.

I groan and fall back on my bed, my head spinning faster and faster. I take out my wand and weakly point it to the flour " _Scourgify_ ," I mutter, hoping it does the trick because all my energy is gone to the point that I can't bring myself to check.

As I lay there, eyes closed, my mind drifts back to the party. How Sirius had kissed me, how he had looked at me all night. The way his eyes eagerly scanned my body as I removed my jacket. Like he wanted me.

The hot tears are back again as my mind flashes to what I saw upstairs; the Marlene pressed against him, how they were drunkenly kissing. How he clearly wanted and chose her over me. How the shock and envy pulsed through me when I saw them together.

And I had all but ruined any chances of being Sirius's friend anymore, no less his girlfriend. He knew my foolish feelings for him now. He is probably laughing at me, for being so presumptuous and immature.

I want nothing more than to disappear. To erase this night from my memory.

As I finally drift off to sleep, I curl up into the fetal position, clutching my knees inwards to my chest, the sharp feeling of humiliation still fresh.


	8. Awkward Situations

The next morning I awake with a pounding in my head. I roll over and am greeted with a bright streak of sunlight beating in from the window near my four-poster bed. I take my pillow and put it over my face to shield my sensitive eyes, groaning.

"Rora…you up?" a groggy voice floats over from the bed next to me.

"Barely," I say, yawning loudly. I feel absolutely foul. The long and deep sleep had not washed away the uneasy feeling from my stomach. Whether from my drinking the night before, or the way the night ended, I wasn't sure.

I glance to my side at Marigold, whose hair is frizzed out and haphazard in the extreme, her mascara smeared under her tired eyes, and her dress (unchanged from the night before) is on inside out. She stretches out her body, as she leans over the side of the bed with a yawn and untangles her feet from the curtains above her four-poster bed.

"Well last night was a complete success," she says with a beaming smile.

I mutter bitterly, "Yeah, maybe for you. I just feel utterly ill."

I hear her rise from her bed and walk over to me. "I know, I heard that you left early," she says with a knowing and patronizing glance over to me. "Spill, now."

I sigh and groan. This is not what I'd prefer to be talking about. "I just…wanted to leave. I was tired," I say, avoiding eye contact with her.

She snorts with a quick laugh, and folds her arms in what I assume is meant to be an intimidating fashion. " _As if,_ Rora. Come on, tell me the truth! Emmeline said you looked wretched,"

"Thanks," I grumble. "I don't want to talk about it, okay?" I snap.

Marigold raises an eyebrow and purses her lips. "Fine, but if you don't want to talk about your night, don't you want to know about mine?" She gives me an impish grin.

I sigh. "Fine, when'd you get back last night?"

"I got in this _morning_ around seven," Marigold says slowly, her voice unmistakably smug. Her grin deepens as she says in a faux-offhand tone, "Me and Alexander went up to his dormitory last night."

I am silent and unsurprised. She is still watching me, expecting me to probe her further. So I humor her. "And? Was it…nice?"

She giggles. "Oh my Merlin, Aurora! It was the best I have ever had." She leans back now with a dreamy sigh. "I think I'm in love," 

I roll my eyes and mutter, "Well I'd hold off. Love's rubbish,"

But Marigold isn't listening. She's rolled on her back now, gazing dreamily up at the ceiling and twirling a piece of her golden hair in his fingertips.

I hear another stirring from across our dormitory. Emmeline has awakened.

"Ugh...what…urghh." I hear a sputtering of unhappy sounds. I have to hold back a sudden laugh as I see her slowly rise from her bed, hair disheveled, eyes squinting.

"What happened to you?" Marigold asks at the sight of her.

"Shove off," she mutters sourly in reply, wildly reaching around for the water cup on her bedside table without looking, which only caused her to knock over her wand and picture frame. "Bloody hell…"

"When did you get back last night, Ems?" I ask. "Did you everyone make it back unnoticed?"

"Around two or three I think?" she answers as she finally locates her water cup and heartily sips it down. "I came back with Remus and Peter."

"And what happened to everyone else?" Marigold inquires eagerly.

"Oh, most everyone left when I did. But James and Lily stayed behind for a bit." Emmeline says through a yawn. "Rora, did you make it back okay?" 

I ignore her, however, and get up suddenly, feeling even more ill than I had before, and make my way to the bathroom to brush my teeth and make myself presentable.

As I get my toothbrush out from my spot in the smooth stone cupboards, I can hear Marigold and Emmeline quietly talking about me. Their voices are being carried into the bathroom through the cracked open door. Without turning on the tap, I lean closer to eavesdrop.

"So why she leave? Did she tell you?" I hear Emmeline ask.

"No, she refuses, naturally. So like Rora to not talk about _anything_ ," Marigold replies.

"Well I think it had something to do with Sirius, I saw him chase after her and I think they fought or something,"

"Over what?"

"I dunno,"

"So strange. I thought everything was going well last night too…."

"Me too."

"I'm just glad we all didn't end up murdered by any _intruders_ ," Emmeline jokes and they share a giggle.

I quickly turn on the tap, drowning out their voices. My cheeks flow red-hot as I stare into the slowly steaming flow of water below me. How could I even explain my stupid embarrassment to them? I had made a huge mess of everything. It was all just a stupid mistake.

And I certainly hoped they wouldn't pester me further about it. Though once they found out about our detentions, they'd be wanting a full explanation.

After I'm done washing up, I reenter our dormitory, making a careful effort not to look at Marigold or Emmeline.

"Well, shall we go grab breakfast?" Marigold suggests quickly when she sees me walk back in. "I don't know about you, but I'm starved,"

"I'm not hungry," I mutter, not moving from my bed, which I have firmly laid back down on. "I still feel sick." In reality, my stomach was uneasy not because of the aftereffects of the alcohol, but rather the nerve racking realization that I would have to face him again so soon. And going to breakfast now would be a sure fire way to do so, and I wanted nothing to do with that.

"You need food to combat your hangover, Rors," Marigold prodded, attempting to grab my arm to lift me up. "Trust me, I know these things,"

My heartbeat skips merely at the thought of dealing with another confrontation with him. But my hungry stomach gives a rumble at that moment and Marigold pointedly raises her eyebrow at me.

"Fine, but can we just make it a quick breakfast?"

"Oh stop being so difficult, _really_ ,"

When we enter the Great Hall, I follow Marigold and Emmeline quietly towards the Gryffindor table. I scan the seats, willing Marigold not to sit with the Marauders this morning, so I won't have to face him now. But, seeing as there was rarely an occasion when we _didn't_ sit with them, I knew I'd be pushing my luck with such hopes.

But before we get a chance to go any farther, Remus and Peter come up behind us. "Hey girls," Remus greets us amiably. I turn and give him a weak smile. He is looking at me knowingly, the concern from last night returning to his expression. I am all too certain that Sirius had filled him on the night's events.

As we near James and Sirius, who have chosen a seat on the far end as if to make the experience of slowly walking towards them even longer and more torturous for me, I begin to feel the uneasy feeling return.

"Morning," James says brightly as we sit down. "Did you enjoy yourselves last night?"

I make sure to sit as far away from the end Sirius is on as possible, but I am still less than five feet from him. I avert my eyes, hoping he won't notice me. But out of the corner of my eye I notice him shift uncomfortably in his seat.

"Oh yes, it was the best party yet!" Marigold exclaims in reply, as she grabs a large steaming pot of tea from across the table, leaning over Peter as she does so.

"Marigold sure had fun with _Alexander Nightingale_ last night, too," Emmeline taunts.

Marigold silently gives a nonchalant smirk, as if she didn't wasn't secretly giddy inside, and James raises his eyebrows.

"Fraternizing with the enemy team, are we?" he accuses. But Marigold just giggles as she daintily pours a teaspoon of sugar in her mug of tea, the smug look still on her face.

"I believe you owe me two galleons, Black," James jokes, but Sirius only gives a weak smile, not taking his eyes off his plate.

"Merlin, nothing beats a hangover like meat and potatoes," James says a moment later, his mouth overflowing with food as he digs in eagerly. I notice that his hair is mussed, and he's wearing the same clothes from last night, his shirt collar unbuttoned at the top and his shirt untucked.

"Where's Lily this morning?" Marigold asks slyly, with a coy smile on her lips.

James stops his gorging for a moment to look up at us. "Freshening up I s'pose," he says nonchalantly. "She had _quite_ the night last night,"

Remus snorts. "I still can't believe it," he mutters, shaking his head. My head snaps up towards him at the sound of his voice, but he's not looking over at me.

"You offend me with your constant doubt, Moony," James says with a boyish grin plastered across his face as he continues eating.

"So you're official now, then? Emmeline inquires. "You're a couple?"

James shifts uncomfortably for a moment. "Well, not officially, but I suppose in a way, yeah,"

Sirius's face darkens even more. He is pushing his eggs around his plate.

"So, lads. We need to talk Quidditch," James says hurriedly. Clearly he too wants attention deflected from any discussion of his relationship.

"What's to say? We're going to destroy the Slytherins," Sirius says.

"Yes but we need to _strategize_ ," James answers, pulling out something that was stowed in his pocket. It's a piece of parchment. He lays it out on the table in between the plates of food and positions a quill at the top. "We need to make some plays,"

"Can't this wait until practice tomorrow?" Sirius says, annoyance becoming more apparent in the tone of his voice. I wonder if that's really the source of it. "I want to eat in peace,"

"Absolutely not," James says, eyebrows raised. "You of all people should realize that! Plus, I'm calling an impromptu practice later today."

Sirius rolls his eyes. "For _fucks sake_ , Prongs. It's Sunday. Day of _rest._ Ever heard of it?"

"Not for us, if we want to win. And with you being out of training all week," James says, looking annoyed. He is now manically scribbling on his spare bit of parchment, organizing plays. "We need to beat Slytherin if we want to progress towards the Cup,"

"Wait, why are you out of training all week?" Emmeline says, looking at Sirius.

Sirius shifts uncomfortably. "Er, well, I have detention,"

"For what?" Marigold and Emmeline ask in unison.

"Well, Rora and I may or may not have gotten caught coming back last night," Siriuus mutters, lowering his voice. "By that Auror Clarke,"

"What?!" Marigold gives me a betrayed look, as if I had owed her a full run down of the nights events. I slink down in my seat, wanting nothing more than to disappear.

"But he's letting us off with only detention and not telling any staff, namely McGonagall," Sirus stresses, looking over his shoulder. "So keep your mouths glued shut about it,"

Marigold and Emmeline are staring intently at me know, evidently expecting me to comment. So I just shrug and say, "Could have been worse, with the tightened security curfew,"

James, who seems thoroughly bored with the conversation, probably out of frustration at his fellow Marauder for his lapse in sleuthing, gathers up his parchment page.

"OI! McKinnon! I'm calling for Quidditch training today at five, pass it around," James calls down the table to where Marlene was sitting with Lily, Alice and Dorcas. My stomach tenses when I stare at her, with all her blonde hair and slim form. I try not to let the resentment show. She just beams and turns to pass on the information to the rest of the team.

Feeling suddenly ill again, and taking advantage of the distraction, I buss my table setting and slip off.

"See you back at the Common Room," I mutter to Marigold and Emmeline before hurriedly heading off. I wouldn't miss the chance to escape.

Much to my dismay, however, just as I'm entering the Hall of Portraits, I hear a familair call from behind me.

"Rora! Hey, wait up!'

I stop in my tracks, though I don't turn around. The light is low in the hall, the watery sleet and hazy clouds outside casting a gloomy shadow over the shapes inside. I take a deep breath, my insides seeming to writhe in anxiety.

"We should talk," Sirius says when he's finally reached me. I feel his hand on my shoulder.

"About what?" I answer unhelpfully, not bothering to turn around still. My stomach feels foul again.

"Last night," he says pointedly. I turn around to face him now. His hands are shoved in his pockets, his face somewhere between perplexed and hopeful. "I don't like how we ended the night."

"I don't know Sirius. Just forget about last night, okay? We were drunk." I say, not meeting his gaze.

"Maybe were were," he says slowly. "But I think we need to talk and…figure some things out,"

"Just forget about it, okay?" I snap. I can't handle facing this right now. I feel ready to explode from the tension. I want nothing more than to disappear. "I don't even really remember last night anyway-"

"Rora, come on, I know that's not true-" He grabs hold of my arm now. This makes me angry.

"I will not," I snap again, jerking myself away from his grasp. " _You're_ the one who should work out why I'm upset, not me."

And before I give him the chance to respond, I yank myself away and practically run up the stairs from him.

I sit in my four poster bed that evening, curtains drawn. I am pouring over my star charts, attempting to distract myself by reviewing for my class tomorrow. My feet are crossed and my caramel hair is falling over my face in messy waves. Marigold is off pursuing Alexander again, and Emmeline is probably downstairs in the Common Room with the boys. But that is the last place I want to be right now.

The clock strikes eleven. My stomach gives an uncomfortable and loud growl.

 _I shouldn't have skipped dinner,_ I sigh angrily to myself. But there was nothing for it. I couldn't bring myself to deal with their questions. And with all the schoolwork I had to do piling up, I had decided to avoid my friends.

But I was _so_ hungry. I angrily throw down my quill and fit my feet into the slippers at the foot of my bed. I grab a cardigan and pull it over my skirt and blouse. I walk down the stairs, preparing myself to ignore the Marauders. But when I reach the bottom, I realize that they're nowhere to be seen. Only a handful of younger students catching up on their Sunday night studies litter the plush chairs. Emmeline is over by the fire, quietly reading. I call over to her:

"Hey Ems, want anything from the kitchens? I'm gonna go grab some food."

"Nah, thanks though," she calls back absentmindedly, not looking up from her book. "Be careful, the curfew is still in effect,"

I shrug her off. "I know, I'll be fine," 

When I have climbed out the Portrait Hole, I glance cautiously around. The corridor is deserted. Only the infinitesimal flicker of the candle lanterns along the walls give any sign of movement. I take a step out.

"Do be careful, it is a strange night tonight, the full moon is high," The Fat Lady warns. I turn to her and shrug. "I'll be alright, I'm just going to the kitchens,"

She simply shrugs in response as she closes the hole up again. "Suit yourself,"

I take a few more steps. "This would be a great time to have that bloody map of theirs," I mutter to myself as I scan the corridor for any sign of Filch or professors. Nothing in sight. I gently move out of the portrait hole and head towards the kitchens.

As I glance distractedly to my right, I suddenly barge into something very solid and person-shaped. I start and look up. And it is the last group of person I want to be seeing right now; Sirius. He is with Peter; and to add insult to injury, the body I was now awkwardly wedged against and nearly tipping over belongs to Sirius.

"Oh for _fucks sake_ ," I mutter angrily as I jump to right myself and neaten my sweater and skirt. "Where did you come from?"

"Didn't see you there, sorry." he says quickly. "You alright?"

"I'm fine," I answer. I survey Sirius, holding the map out in his hand and Peter, who is holding a silvery looking cloth. I am perplexed.

"What the bloody hell have you lot been doing?" I ask. I was used to the Marauders sneaking about and talking in code. I had known them nearly three years now and had observed their strange behavior; nightly jaunts on the grounds doing Merlin-knows what, and always having an air of secrecy and adventure about them. So this didn't come as a surprise. What caught my eye was the bloody scratch extending down Sirius's torso. It had ripped through his sweater and shirt and was a bright and angry red.

Sirius's eyes follow my gaze to his wound and he quickly tries to cover it up. "Oh nothing, just an accident. I'm fine," he explains. But he sounds vaguely nervous. I don't think they meant to be seen here.

"How did that happen?" I inquire. I cross my arms. My recent frustrations coupled with my agonizingly grumbling stomach has caused me to become somewhat irritable.

"Just an accident, like I said," Sirius answers casually.

"Why are _you_ out so late?" Peter asks nervously. "You're not going out on the grounds, are you?" For some reason, Sirius gives him a swift elbow in the side.

"I was hungry," I say simply, still raising a skeptical brow at the pair of them. "I'm headed to the kitchens to get some late night food…"

"Well, we'll stop distracting you then, you're clearly is in a rush," Sirius says firmly and almost coldly, ushering Peter through the portrait hole.

"Right…" I reply, a bit surprised as I watch them disappear as suddenly as they had appeared.

Somehow, I feel a bit miffed at him leaving so suddenly. As if he had been mad at me. I hadn't expected that. Somehow, I thought I should only be allowed to be mad at him, not the other way around.

"Fine, whatever, I don't even _care_ anymore," I mutter to no one in particular, as I make my way to the kitchens.

I trudge down the long staircase, cautiously. Though I was confident that I wouldn't suffer too much of a punishment for getting food when I was so obviously hungry, I still didn't fancy getting apprehended by a teacher in my current angry state. And with my current set of detentions ahead of me, to boot.

When I enter the corridor where I knew I would find the painting of the bowl of fruit leading to the kitchens, I suddenly hear lowered, hurried voices ahead. I stop dead and press myself against the wall.

I see two figures on one side of the corridor. I can't make out who they are, but they're definitely students. I can just make out pieces of their conversation.

"This was a mistake, James…"

"No, no, don't you dare say that…"

They've moved closer now, their voices louder and once their forms are illuminated by the warm glow of the lanterns on the wall, I finally see that it's James and Lily.

Lily's arms are crossed as she stares at James with a furrowed brow.

"We aren't good together, we can't make this work-"

James is pleading now, and he grabs one of her arms as she attempts to turn away. 

"No, not if you just gave me a chance-"

"I've given you plenty of chances, James!"

"Please Lily, I'll do anything-"

"For the love of Godric Gryffindor, you won't give up will you?" Lily stops to look at him. I hope they don't notice me.

"Never, Lily. I care about you…a lot."

"Well you need to stop caring, James." Lily's speech is firm now.

"I can't. I won't." James says, his voice weakened. Almost saddened.

I am surprised when I hear a strangled sob followed by Lily saying, "Merlin…this isn't fair. I-I can't do this."

"Lily, I'm in love with you,"

"Don't say that," she sobs. "I can't,"

She turns around from James and puts her head in her hands. I can see the glistening of tears on her face. She starts to make her way down the corridor. Towards me.

Panicked, I back away slowly, trying hard not to be seen or heard. I wildly try to come up with a good excuse for why I'm standing in the dark eavesdropping on their conflict.

But Lily mercifully turns in front of a portrait, one I had no idea even lead anywhere, mutters an unintelligible password and disappears suddenly.

I glance back towards James. He is standing, staring at the spot Lily had been just seconds before. His shoulders are slumped, his face downcast.

I hesitate. I consider saying something to him, to comfort him, as a friend who can certainly empathize. But I decide to save him the embarrassment. I creep back the way I came.

"Rora?"

I freeze. _Merlin, it's too late now._

"Uh…yeah?" I turn around a give him a weak smile. "Hi James."

"Why are….where…?" he asks, confused riddled across his bespectacled face.

"I…um." I consider lying, telling him I was just now getting there, on my way to the kitchens, that I hadn't seen or heard anything. But I know he realizes that I had to have overheard.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to overhear, I was on my way to the kitchens and I didn't know what to do so I just waited and-I-I just…." I blurt out.

But he just sighs and shrugs. "It's alright. These things happen."

"I'm sorry about…Lily," I say quietly after a moment. "I know how that can feel."

But he shrugs again. "It's not over. It can't be,"

"How can you be so sure?" I ask, before I can help it.

"I know her. I love her," he answers simply, surprising me with his confidence in that idea. In those words.

And with that he holds out his hand to me with a smile and continues, "Shall we make a kitchens run together, then? I think we could both use a pick-me-up…"

I slowly smile back and nod. " _Yes_ , that's just what I need."

We walk over to the portrait that leads to the kitchens. James bends down and slowly tickles the pear in the bowl. It gives a small, high-pitched giggle and the painting swings forward, granting us access.

When we creep in, we see that the kitchens are more or less deserted; all the house-elves seem to have gone to bed by now.

James, looking to know exactly where he was going in the expansive room, strides right over to a high wooden cabinet on the right end and opens the door. Rising onto tiptoes, he reaches into the back and pulls out a luxuriantly colored wooden box.

"Here," he says, holding it out to me.

I smile and pop open the box's lid. Inside there are two rows of delicately made chocolate truffles. I pick one out and pop it in my mouth, reveling in the rich chocolaty flavor.

"These are delicious," I say through my mouthful. "How'd you know where they were?"

"They're the best kept secret in Hogwarts history. Found the supply my third year here," he says with a wink as he himself takes a hearty bite of one.

"Nothing heals heartache like chocolate," James says, gesturing for me to sit down at one of the stools by the large stone counter. "Or at least that's what Moony always tells me…"

"Remus _does_ have the strangest fondness for chocolate…" I agree with a smile. "Personally, I prefer hot cider."

"James immediately drops his truffle and dashes over to another cabinet. "Well why on earth, Aurora, didn't you say so?"

He returns with a goblet of piping hot apple cider.

"Ah, thank you, you're the best," I say, taking the warm goblet from him gratefully. "You really should consider a career in hosting parties,"

"I am the best of the best at that, it's true," he agrees haughtily with a laugh.

James gets himself a mug of cider and we sit together for a few moments, drinking our warm beverages and nibbling at the truffles some more.

"Really though…you have a knack for presentation," I say between mouthfuls.

James just gives me a tip of the head. "And you have knack for stars and Arithmancy. Everybody's got their something."

"Hmph. I wish I could use Arithmancy to sort out my problems at the moment," I mutter darkly.

"So you and Sirius still aren't talking, then?" James asks, somewhat exasperatedly. As if our issues were somehow impeding on his life and could have been solved in twenty-four hours.

I nearly choke on my drink. "I thought we came to the kitchens to _escape_ our love problems?"

"Come on Rora, don't act like I don't know. He _is_ my best mate, and you would be too if you weren't a girl."

"Hey!"

"No offense meant."

"Well Sirius has proven himself to be a supreme twat, and I am over it," I say enigmatically.

"A twat? For what?" James asks casually.

I look at him in disbelief. Was he not too present at the party, or am I going mad?

"He snogged Marlene not a half hour after kissing me," I explain flatly.

I was expecting James to be surprised, outraged even, at this. But instead he merely shrugs and takes another vigorous gulp of my cider.

"Well, Sirius and love…it's complicated," James starts.

"How?" 

"Well, he's never experienced love like you or I have,"

"What do you mean?" I wonder.

"I'm not sure he's ever really had to deal with anything like…you before,"

"Me? Why am I any different?" I say, dejected.

"Because you're like a best friend that he also wants to shag," James explains simply. "And that can make a bloke's head explode,"

"Then why snog another girl and break my bloody heart?" I say bitterly, drinking deeply from my bottle.

James sighs. "Sirius can't handle his feelings, his family life, and his relationships with girls have always been one-sided,"

My heart hurts. That had never occurred to me. I feel stupid, really. All those times I had listened to Sirius's family secrets, the pain and abuse he faced at home…

"But he loves you," I say. "And Remus, and Peter. You are all like his brothers,"

"But that's different, I think," James says, musingly. "It's a different love,"

I let this thought sit in my mind, and we sip our drinks in silence.

"I don't know where to go from here," I say softly. "I'm worried we've ruined everything…I'm scared I've lost a friend,"

James gives me a sympathetic look. "Well, Rora, I was feeling the same thing not two weeks ago in the Great Hall, punching the bogies out of Sirius, and look how we managed to mend things!"

I smile weakly, wiping a tear from my cheek. "True enough," I feel a rush of gratitude towards James, my friend. He was so determined and sure of everything he did and said, it was hard to not believe him. 

Just then there is a creaking sound as the door to the kitchens opens again, and I flinch, readying myself for the inevitable teacher who will probably be marching through to scold us.

But instead, a small and frantically moving figure enters. It's Peter.

"Oh, hey Peter!" James exclaims when he spots his friend.

Peter, whose face looks white and more frightened than I felt at his appearance, freezes at the sight of us.

"What are you two doing here? I thought-I need-" he stammers.

James furrows his brow, taking in his friend's obviously distraught state.

"What's the matter, Pete? What d'you need?"

" _James_ ," Peter says, his eyes nervously flicking from me and back over to him. "You were supposed to meet us tonight… _at the Willow_." He almost whispers the last part.

There is a silence as James contemplates this, and he must realize something because at once he leaps up and puts down his bottle.

"That's _tonight_ , Merlin's left soggy-I forgot-I was with Lily and-OH blimey where's Moony?!" He jumbles his words, frantically collecting his things in some strange state of panic. He runs over to a cabinet and pulls out a jar of Merlin-knows-what and throws it to Peter, who catches it hurriedly.

Peter gestures for James to hurry. I look on in confusion.

"Is everything…alright?" I ask slowly, thinking of Sirius' bloody wound from earlier.

James turns back to me and practically shouts an apology, "Oh yes! Grand! Got to be going, but we'll talk later!" And with that, he grabs his things and the last I see of the pair of them are the tails of their cloaks as they exit the door and a glimpse of the old blank parchment of their special map.

Alone now, I sigh. _Bloody Marauders and their midnight adventures._

I turn back to the kitchens. Though the cider and chocolate had begun to fill me up, I still needed real food. So I troll through the cupboards, surveying the many boxes and jars full of various ingredients. But nothing that seems to suit my fancy.

Finally, in a large metallic ice box, I find a minced pie. Perfect.

The kitchens' cold temperature, large stone walls being the root cause, has begun to affect me, so instead of eating the pie there, I quickly stash it under my sweater and creep back towards the door.

Once I make it back to the portrait, I mutter the password and inch forward, expecting the Fat Lady to open and let me pass.

But instead she only raises her head lightly from her slumber and says, "Sorry, dear but the password changed at midnight."

"Fine, what's the new one?" I ask impatiently.

"Oh dear, I can't tell you that!" she laughs condescendingly.

"But…how am I supposed to get in?" I ask faintly. I am not in the mood for this at the moment.

"You can't without the password," she answers simply.

"But I'm a Gryffindor! You _know_ me, I've been here for seven years!" I complain, my voice rising.

"I'm terribly sorry my dear, but rules are rules." She almost looks sympathetic towards me, but her portrait stays sealed tight.

"Can't you make an exception? I'm so tired…please?" I beg weakly. But she purses her lips and gives a sharp shake of her head.

I let out a frustrated groan. In all of my years at this school, I have never once encountered this problem. Probably because I usually was in bed at a reasonable hour like normal people. But here I was, trapped.

"Well how am I supposed to go to bed?" I ask angrily.

"You're the one who's out past curfew…" she says, contempt obvious in her tone. She tended to get annoyed at prolonged conversation. I glare at her and turn around with a sigh.

"Well, I guess I will be sleeping out here then," I mutter dejectedly. I really was in no mood to even bother. I was done with it all. Let a teacher find me, for all I care. This weekend couldn't get any worse.

So I sit myself down on the red carpet that lined the corridors and pull out my minced meat pie.

"Really, my dear, must you eat in front of me? Can't you go somewhere…else?" I hear the Fat Lady grumble from above me. I only turn to shoot her a dark look. She scoffs and turns away as I bite quite purposefully into my pie and chew loudly.

I shouldn't be mad at her, really. It's not her fault. But still. This certainly was not my day.

As I sit there, slowly chewing on my pie though honestly not really enjoying it, I begin to drift. My eyelids droop and I have to startle myself into sitting back up straight to keep from altogether falling asleep. All I can think about it my nice, warm, cushiony bed only a mere staircase away. Oh, how I would love to be snoozing away in it right now instead of on the cold and scratchy carpeting…

Some unknown amount of time later, I feel a gentle prodding at my side. I jump and roll over.

"Um…Aurora?"

I open my eyes to find Lily standing over me, looking quite surprised to say the least.

"What on earth are you doing?" Lily asks, her face riddled with confusion and concern.

"Wha…I…what time is it?" I ask groggily.

"Just after one," she says, holding out a hand to lift me up. I take it and sit myself up.

"Oh." I say stupidly. Suddenly, I feel embarrassed at my state, lying there sprawled out in front of the common room entrance holding a half eaten pie in one hand.

"The password changed, and I was stuck…" I mumble in a lame explanation, not meeting her eyes. My cheeks redden.

"Well here, let's get you inside," Lily says, grabbing my bag for me. " _Carpe Lacuna._ "

The Fat Lady, looking smugly in my direction as she does so, leans forward and we are free to enter.

"How'd you know the password?" I ask weakly in surprise.

"You forget, I _am_ Head Girl," Lily says with a smirk.

The Common room is nearly empty by now, except for a few older students. The boys are gathered in the corner, all but Remus, that is, and I wonder where he could be... evidently they had finished with their nightly jaunt to Merlin-knows-where.

I spot Sirius sulking on the window seat, a book in hand, his long hair drooping over his face. I notice his side has been bandaged.

I head for the dormitory stairs, hoping they won't notice us.

"So, why on earth were you outside of the Tower so late, anyway?" Lily asks as we climb the girls dormitory steps together.

"I went to the kitchens for food. I skipped dinner, so I was starved," I explain quickly, and in the corner of my eye I see Sirius look up at the pair of us.

"Why'd you skip dinner?"

"I…er, well…" I struggle for an excuse. I didn't really feel like admitting to her that I had been avoiding Sirius. "I felt ill…"

"From last night?" Lily prods on.

"Well…yes, you could say that," I answer dryly.

Lily gives a scoff-like laugh. "I'm with you there. I would prefer to erase last night and tonight from existence,"

I suddenly feel the urge to ask her about what happened with James. But I know it's not really my place, so I stay quiet.

"Well, it's getting quite late, Aurora. We should probably be getting to bed," Lily says once we reach the top.

"Hang on, how'd you know I was out there?" I ask suddenly.

Lily just smiles before entering her doorway. "Black told me. Seemed really worried about you. Goodnight,"

I stand there, feeling befuddled. Before entering my dorm, I glance back down to the Common area to find Sirius's face staring back up at mine, a look of hope upon it. I turn from him and enter my room. 


	9. Exploding Snap

"Aurora?"

It was a Wednesday afternoon, and I am sat, feeling quite disgruntled, in double Charms class, near the back of the room. When I hear my name, I snap my head up in surprise. It's Lancaster's silvery gaze that I see above me. I grimace before puling myself together and offering an innocently toned, "Yes Professor?"

"Is it me or have you been neglecting to pay attention? I expect everyone to be on their best behavior at all times in my classroom." He scolds. I frown and mutter an apology. _He is such an asshat._

To be fair, I _had_ just been staring out the sunlit golden window for the past quarter of an hour. But still.

It isn't like me to nod off during a lesson or not give a professor the utmost respect. But since Lancaster had started teaching, I just couldn't be comfortable in his class. Something about him irked and disturbed me. I look furtively around me, trying to gage other student's thoughts. They all look perfectly content (if not slightly bored at worst). Was I really the only one who notices?

I meet Marigold's glance, who is seated near to the front, of course, as she always was in this class. I swear she had the highest grade of us all by now. I had opted out of sitting so close, as to avoid situations like this.

She raises her eyebrows at me but I just shrug.

As Lancaster continues on, I sigh and try to pay attention. And then I remember why it was I had started to look out the window in the first place. _Him_.

He was directly in front of me, his dark haired head looming unavoidably ahead, perfectly obstructing my view. He was leaning backwards on the legs of his chair, looking thoroughly bored and unamused. It was as if he was _trying_ to annoy me, looking so careless. He hadn't even turned around when I had been reprimanded. In a way, I kind of wish he had.

We had already served two of our detentions with Clarke in his Auror office, helping to categorize paperwork and it really wasn't all too bad. Clarke was good humored and it felt more like hanging out than punishment. Sirius and I, however, had so far managed to avoid saying any direct words to one another in those detention sessions and it only served to make me more angry with him.

"Now class," Professor Lancaster's shrill voice breaks me from my stony glare at the back of Sirius's head.

"We will be practicing and honing the Patronus Charm for the remaining time," 

If his entire lecture before this hadn't caught my attention, this certainly does. The Patronus Charm was one of my favorites to conjur. We barely ever get the chance to use it, save for our own experimentation. I had only once, for a flicker of a moment, been able to cast a corporeal one.

"Wands at the ready, students!" Lancaster commands, taking out his own shiny ebony wand. He holds it out, pointing the tip diagonally towards the ceiling, and gesturing for us to do the same.

There is some shuffling as people take out their wands from inside their pockets and robes. I grab my long willow wand and hold it out in front of me, copying Lancaster's movement. He meets my eye when I do this and gives me a smile. I do not return it.

I glance up ahead towards Marigold, who is poised and at the ready. I can almost hear the " _Look at me! Praise me!"_ her posture is practically screaming towards him.

"Now, as I'm sure most of you remember, in order for the Patronus to take its strongest form, one must focus their mind on a single happy moment before uttering the incantation, _Expecto patronum_." Lancaster explains.

There is silence as most of the class attempts to do this. I scramble for a moment and search my mind. What was my happiest moment? Perhaps before last week, I might have drawn on fun memories with my friends at Hogwarts. But now those memories remind me of Sirius. And something tells me that won't produce the strongest Patronus at the moment….

Instead, I focus on the feeling I got when I finally opened my Hogwarts acceptance letter. That fuzzy warm feeling comes back to me and I try to grab hold of it with the fibers of my mind. I close my eyes and envision the cream parchment envelope and the careful emerald script scrawled across the page…

I mutter _Expecto patronum_ under my breath. I feel the warmth spread and suddenly there is a silvery form descending from my wand tip.

It hovers about for a moment before taking the form of a large fruit bat. I smile proudly as it flits around the class.

I see that I am one of the first students to succeed and look up at Lancaster expectantly. Surely now he would see the effort I'm putting in his class, right? Wrong.

Of course, he has missed my momentary brilliance and is instead distracted by a large Patronus bounding near the front of the room. My disappointment causes my poor Patronus to fizzle out and dissipate, and my shoulders slump as I watch the large Patronus still causing a ruckus. It is a large, shaggy dog, and I wonder who the git is who's stealing my thunder. I gaze wildly around the room. And that's when Lancaster exclaims, "Well done, Mr. Black!"

Of course it's bloody Sirius's Patronus. 

Sirius is smirking smugly, his wand lazily held out in front of him as he directs his mutt. I give the back of his head a seething glare.

From the front of the class, I see that Marigold too looks enviously over at him, with his strong Patronus. She apparently is struggling with her own, which has only taken the form of a pathetic fluttering orb thus far.

"Professor, I'm having difficulty," she pouts up as Lancaster strolls by. "I need to find _a really_ happy thought…"

I roll my eyes as I focus back on my memory, squinting my eyes closed in concentration. I mutter the incantation again, and my little bat friend returns, taking a swoop around the room in triumph before coming back to rest on my shoulder. I watch as more and more students finally conjure their own. I see a hopping frog, a silvery stallion galloping (quite intimidating) towards me, and even a small dragonfly.

"So your Patronus is a bat?"

I start and my Patronus disappears suddenly in a cloud of silver mist as I hear his voice. I look up and meet Sirius's eager gray eyes turned back towards me.

I compose myself. "Yes," I mutter dully. "And yours is a dog."

"How have I never known?" he raises an eyebrow at me as he leans back in his seat, still carelessly directing his dog around the room. "The form of your Patronus?"

"I guess there's a lot you don't know about me," I answer tersely. I close my eyes and refocus on conjuring back my bat.

The bat pops back into life in a glowing cloud and goes back to flying in circles above my head.

"Bats symbolize rebirth, you know," Sirius says after a moment, clearly ignoring my statement.

"I guess so." I say flatly. "And dogs represent loyalty." I stare pointedly at him at this, but he seems unfazed. Sirius's dog jumps over near my Patronus and without missing a second, the bat swats the dog's snout with one of its wings. I smile like a proud parent.

But before Sirius can respond, Lancaster calls us back to attention. But I hardly process what he's saying. Sirius slowly straightens back up in his desk and turns back around. I stare out the window again, feeling more and more irked.

Once the lesson is finished, I gather my things and walk to meet up with Marigold, making sure to very carefully ignore Sirius, in case he tried to talk to me again.

"Library?" I ask when she spots me. I have some serious studying to do. We had midterm N.E.W.T. practice exams next week and I knew I wouldn't have any time to waste.

Marigold groans as she indolently shrugs her rucksack over her shoulder. " _Ugh_ but Rora, we've been practically living there lately. Might we just pop over to the Common Room or Owlry or courtyard or somewhere, ANYWHERE, that's _not_ the library?"

I scowl. "I know, believe me, but pre-N.E.W.T.'s are coming up. We've got to get ahead while we can!"

Just as she's about to retort with some excuse or brilliant plan that will undoubtedly save us from the horrible plight of studying, I hear a shrill voice behind me.

"Oh, Miss Mockinglow, please see me over here for a moment before you head off…" It's Lancaster's voice.

I freeze and turn around, a bit miffed and startled. He is looking over to me with what I assume is meant to be a concerning but friendly gaze, but all I see is an uncomfortable intrigue.

I silently walk over to him, unsure of what's to happen. As he guides me over to the corner, away from the bustling of students leaving out the door, I glance quickly back at Marigold. She just shrugs, looking a bit confused.

"Yes?" I ask once we've become secluded from the noise on the other side of the chalkboard.

"Miss Mockinglow," he starts, not breaching his glance from mine. "I must confess that I have become very disappointed in you lately," His tone is somewhat condescending. I furrow my brow. There is a moment of silence and I realize it's probably my turn t speak.

"I…uh…what do you mean?" I ask.

"You are a very bright young lady, Aurora," he says carefully, his eyes still not breaking from mine. I feel a certain kind of discomfort again, as I do every time he stares at me. As though he is closely examining me, like a viewer into a cage.

"I could tell you had potential as soon as I saw you," he continues, now choosing to gaze out the window as if in some form of nostalgia, as if he had known me many years ago. When it was really only two months ago. Really.

As he continues, I slowly tune out his words and instead focus on his robes. I had never quite noticed them before. His trimly tied bowtie, sharp tweed cloak and delicately brushed light hair. Like a suavely dressed business elite, not a professor.

"…and with your father's pure bloodline…" he finally trails off. This snaps me back to his lecture.

Was it _really_ necessary to pint out my bloodline, again? Especially given the current political climate. And the war, not to mention.

I shift on my feet and look down. "I'm…sorry?" I half question, half apologize. "But I'm not that great at Charms. It's never been my strong suit." This was only half true. But an excuse was an excuse. I didn't feel like sucking up to this bloke, at any rate.

"Well, suffice it to say. I will be very…let down…if you continue this way, Miss Mockinglow," he says slowly, as though treading carefully wit his words. I wonder what he has to hide. "I do hope you choose to put more effort in this course form here on out." And with that he nods me goodbye, indicating I am free to leave and I am turning back as quickly as is polite, headed straight back towards Marigold.

As we exit the classroom, I hiss at her. " _What in Merlin's name is he playing at?"_

"I don't understand…he seems to really hate you, calling you out like that again and again," Marigold says slowly.

"No….I don't think he hates me. I think he likes me. Too much." I shiver. The thought disturbs me.

"Hmph," Marigold says, her voice containing an unmistakable edge of contempt.

"Oh please not like that," I sharply murmur. "I just mean…I think he fancies me a prodigy or some other codswallop. But…um, no thank you."

"Well in any case, I would stop being snarky with him or else your grades will be at risk…" Marigold advises.

"I'm hardly being _snarky_ ," I snap defensively as we round the corner towards the Great Hall for dinner. "I just don't feel like kissing up to him….unlike _someone_ I know."

Marigold just rolls her eyes and ignores it as we go back up the common room. "I saw you talking to Sirius, by the way…"

"Don't get too excited," I warn her dryly. "It wasn't much in the way of productive."

"Well, it's a start."

"Towards…?"

"Oh stop Rora. You two can't carry on like this forever."

"Watch me," I mutter darkly.

When we enter the Common Room, we find Emmeline and Peter sitting by the fire and Marigold quickly joins them. But I instead say nothing in the form of greeting and immediately take to the dormitory stairs, wanting nothing more than to be alone. I plop down face first on my bed once I reach my room. I feel underneath my pillow until my hand grasps around the cold glass bottle I know it stowed safely underneath. I take it out and hold it above me, examining the shimmering cloud held within. It flows smoothly and quite gracefully with each gentle turn of the bottle. I uncork it slightly, just for a small sniff of the heavenly scent it holds. I close my eyes for a moment, letting the light breeze from my open window sooth my jitters.

I think about Sirius. About our short conversation in class. What was he doing? He certainly seemed like he was trying to open up a conversation with me again.

But I don't get it. First he seems hurt at my anger, then mad at me for ignoring him, now he's acting like nothing's wrong at all and wants to be my friend again? All in the span of a week?

When I open my eyes again, the light from the vile is catching the golden rays of the midday sun that filter through the window in strips across the rich wooden flooring. I sigh heavily, still feeling the weight of the stress of everything on my chest. I shove the vile back under my pillow and roll over on my back, staring straight up at the ceiling.

 _I can't take this. I need to get out._ So I jump up, grab my cloak and scarf and my backpack and head out the door.

"Where you off to so fast?" I hear Emmeline inquire as I stalk past them towards the portrait hole.

"Grounds. For a walk. I need fresh air," I explain without looking at them. "See you later."

I hardly pay attention to my path as I trudge across the scarlet-carpeted corridors, down the marble staircases and out the courtyard arches onto the grounds. The sun is low on the horizon, casting an orange glow onto the tips of the trees and the shimmering Lake. I head straight for the forest, where I know of a lookout spot that is quiet and secluded. I had a few hours until my next detention and my Astronomy lesson at the tower after that, and I planned to stay away from anyone in the meantime.

Once I reach it, having been scratched and dirtied by brambles and mud, I find myself hardly caring as I sit down and nestle myself in a bed of ferns underneath one of the many towering trees of the Forbidden Forest.

I let out a long breath and set down my bag. _Whoever said this year would be our best was clearly mistaken._

I gaze out ahead of me. The icy November wind has let up slightly, with only a soft covering of rainy-looking clouds sweeping over the mountains and lake in front of me. Still, I shiver slightly in my woolen cloak and scarf as a light breeze lifts the strands of my hair up.

I lip my chapped lips and rub my frozen hands together. I take out my wand and cast a quick warming spell on them, recoiling slightly at the immediate tingle it causes.

Still clutching my wand in my hand, I stare at it curiously for a moment before muttering, _Expecto Patronum._

My fruit bat Patronus springs from my wandtip, as if no time had passed between earlier this afternoon and now. He flits up and down and around the wide trunks of the trees and for a moment disappears behind a bush. It was like he had a mind of his own.

"Rora! Aurora!" I hear my name coming from behind me.

"Who…" I whisper to myself. And then I see the form of a boy with messy hair stepping over the uneven ground towards me.

"Oh, hey James."

He grins at me and asks, while disentangling his foot from a particularly thistly bush as he nears me, "What brings you out here?

"I should ask you the same question," I point out, returning his smile as he strides over and plops himself down beside me in the ferns.

"I stopped by Hagrid's for tea, and spotted your Patronus." He explains, indicating the silvery fruit bat now perched curiously next to me. I had almost forgotten about it in my surprise.

"Oh." I say. Though I know it's not James's fault, I am a bit annoyed. I had intended to be alone out here to think. And seeing James was only yet another reminder of Sirius. It seems that even in the Forbidden Forest, I couldn't escape much.

After a moment, he says slowly, "So I just wanted to say thank you…" He reddens in the face. _James Potter_ , blushing?

"For what?" I ask. I couldn't recall me doing anything but complicate anything for the Marauders as of late.

"For…being there for me the other night. When Lily and I…" he trails off.

"Oh," I say, recalling the night in the kitchens when I nursed his broken heart with chocolate and encouraging words. "Well, it was nothing. And you were equally there for me,"

He smiles warmly.

"It's just…difficult." He goes on. " _She's_ difficult. _I'm_ difficult. _We're_ difficult."

I shrug. It was true, really. "Everything's difficult. Especially right now." I agree with another heavy sigh.

"I just wish I knew how to handle her, y'know?" James begins carefully. "She's addicting. I know she hesitated for what I'd done to _Snape_ ," he hisses his name. "but I'm really trying to show her that's not me anymore. I've grown since last year, really."

I nod, though I am not positive he has. Was it not just the other week him and Sirius had thrown sparkling fireworks during dinner? That he had gotten into a fist fight?

"And then at the party…" He puts his head in his hands . "I know we rushed into things, but I am in love with her…I don't know what to do."

"I'm not exactly an expert on the subject of love right now, if you haven't noticed…" I say with a weak smirk. "I'm failing on all fronts."

"Rora…you aren't though. You and Sirius…you get on so well. It'll be easy to sort out." James says offhandedly, as if we had only had a minor row over who got the last sip of pumpkin juice at dinner.

"But it hasn't been easy." I say. I can feel my throat catch up under the weight of the emotional distress that I've been keeping bottled up within me for the last week. "If we really were so great of friends, why doesn't he seem sorry for what he did? He's carrying on like he did nothing wrong,"

James sets his hazel eyes intently on me now. "Oh, how wrong you are about that."

"What do you mean?"

"He cares. Trust me. It's just that Sirius is very good at playing these things off. He doesn't let on when he's upset,"

"Well then how come he hasn't apologized so things can just actually go back to normal?" I demand angrily, mostly at the universe.

"Someone once told me when I asked for romance advice to _just talk_ , remember?" He looks purposefully over at me, one dark brow raised in amusement. I look away guiltily."

"Right. Well maybe it's easier said then done…"

"Always is, but that's no excuse." James says lightly.

"Okay, _Mr. Love Expert!"_ I tease gently.

He scoffs. "Please Rora. I am doing the best I can. You are underestimating the wrath of a certain ginger-haired Head Girl."

"Maybe, but you've never dealt with an arrogant, ego-centric playboy have you?"

"Wrong, because that certain arrogant, ego-centric mindfuck playboy happens to be my _best friend_. Which is probably worse."

"I doubt it."

"You'd be surprised."

We laugh together for a moment.

"And for the record, Sirius is far from a _playboy_ ," James says seriously. "He puts on that air, but he is as lovesick of a puppy as any of us,"

"Still arrogant though," I mutter.

"Yeah, can't argue with you there," James agrees, and we laugh again.

"Well," He says after several minutes of silent thought as we stare out onto the glinting surface of the lake. "I should probably head back. Coming?"

"Yeah, let's go," And he takes my hand and helps me up and we head back together.

Once we enter the Common Room, I see that Emmeline, Remus, Marigold and Peter are still sat around a coffee table. When they spot us, Emmeline shouts, "Hey, we're going to start a game of Exploding Snap. Wanna join?"

I shrug and hesitate for a moment. Well, may as well take my mind off everything, right? "Sure, why not."

And it does help take my mind off everything. It's actually quite fun. We've teamed ourselves up, girls versus boys. I actually laugh and return to something resembling a carefree state for the first time in what feels like forever.

"Ooh, match! Get it Ems!" Marigold squeals as two matching cards are overturned in the building pile. Both her and Remus dive to push their hands down before the card explodes. Emmeline manages to wedge hers below Remus', gaining our team one point and ensuring the safety against the sparking pop.

"Hah! Take that!" Emmeline gloats, as I give her a high five.

Remus smirks and lays out a new set. "Next time you won't be so lucky," he says with a faux ominous tone. But Emmeline is poised and at the ready, her back straight and her hand at attention.

"Let's go chaps, we're tied up now. " Her eyes haven't left the downturned cards. I ready myself as well, half knowing Emmeline will probably beat me to it anyway.

Remus quickly overturns each pile, and we all sit tensely, waiting for two of the card's symbols to match up so we can claim it. A fish, a raven, a whale, a beetle…

The next card is overturned. Marigold lunges for the card, shrieking "MATCH! MATCH!"

But she's wrong, that's a raven not an eagle, which is the one we're looking out for. Emmeline screeches, "NO STOP YOU TWAT IT'S A RAVEN!" but it's too late; Marigold has plopped her hand down upon the incorrect card. There is a split second of complete silence as we wait, and then the whole pile explodes with a deafening _'SNAP'_ into a ball of fire. We all erupt in giggles and laughs in surprise and fall back, shielding ourselves form the ashes and sparks.

"You dolt!" I tease, as Marigold lays back, half in laughter and half in confusion.

"But it was an eagle!"

"A _raven_!" Emmeline shouts at her. "Not the same!"

We all laugh more as Emmeline uses her wand to reset the deck.

"Wait, let's not start another hand, it's nearly dinner time," Marigold says, checking her wristwatch.

"Excellent, I'm hungry," Peter says, hopping up immediately. Him and Marigold make to head down beore Emmeline snaps, "Oi! You lot going to help clean up or what?"

"No, you lot can go ahead, I'll clean up," remus assures them. I stay behind to help him, waving them off.

"Thanks Rora," Remus says with a smile to me. I just smile back with a nod of the head.

After a minute of silently collecting the cards, Remus carefully asks, "So, how are you?"

I stop for a split second. How was I? Well, _that_ was a question wasn't it.

"I'm…fine." I say, not meeting his gaze. "Just loaded down with studies, y'know."

"Mmhm…" he says, before carefully continuing, "And you've talked to Sirius?"

I let out a short breath. How many times would this come up today?

"I don't _want_ to talk to Sirius," I say, which was sort of a lie.

"Well you should."

"Why?" I ask unhelpfully.

"You need to. For both your sakes."

I look up to him in annoyance, seeing him staring knowingly at me with those tired hazel eyes. It's impossible to blame Remus. He's the most good-natured out of all of us. "But Remus-"

"Come on Aurora. I know you're avoiding him. We all notice."

I say nothing. Even though I had a feeling they all sensed it (I mean, really, how could you not?) but it was almost embarrassing to have it pointed out to me. I thought everyone would just accept it and get over it. But apparently not.

"It's not that easy, it's _his_ responsibility to apologize, he's being difficult-"

"And you're not?" he interjects. This stumps me. It was kind of true, I guess. But still, what was I expected to do? Go over and confess my stupid schoolgirl crush and that I got my little sensitive feelings hurt? No thank you.

"I'm doing my best," I say, shoving the last of the cards in the box.

"Well, I think that you can work things out. He cares about you."

"I'm not sure what he wants anymore," I mutter to myself.

"Well, I'm his best mate. And I can tell you that I know you two can be friends again. I know both of you better than either of you know yourself," He smirks at me. I raise a brow at him.

"Oh, do you?" But I smirk right back.

"Yes. Trust me."

"I do, Remus. I trust _you_." I say.

"Well good. Because we're all getting bloody tired of having you two moody rainclouds around,"

I give a sharp laugh. "Well so sorry to be such an _inconvenience_ to you."

"Anyways, c'mon," Remus says as we finish our cleaning. "Let's go to dinner. I have a chicken leg with my name on it."

Later that evening, once I have returned from my Astronomy lesson, my fingers sore from positioning the telescopes and smeared with ink, I find my friends gathered in the Common Room, sans Sirius and James.

My detention with Sirius had gone much the same as the previous ones, us silently shuffling papers and occasionally chatting with Clarke about one thing or another. It seems Sirius's failed attempt at conversation in class had given him the hint, and I was becoming numbed to it now, really, us ignoring one another.

"Rora, mind giving me a hand with this equation?" Remus asks me from one of the writing tables near the corner, holding out his Arthimancy homework. I crane my neck over to get a look at it.

"Substitute the variable there….and don't forget the Xavier Principle, that calculation there is off because you haven't accounted for it…." I mutter after giving it a glance. Remus immediately pours over his scrawled calculations and crosses out and fixes the errors.

"Blimey, I wouldn't have even noticed…thanks," he says gratefully. I just give a short nod. I was used to being the resident tutor when it came to maths around here by now. I take a seat on the squishy red sofa by the hearth, sighing in exhaustion. My Astronomy teacher had taken no prisoners with our work tonight, having such high standards for us seventh year N.E.W.T. students.

"So Rora," Marigold scoots over to me, her bouncy blonde curls tied up into a knot above her head. "What are we doing for the Christmas holidays?"

"Party, I expect?" I'm not sure why she's asking me this. It was usually up to the Marauders to plan out the yearly party, usually held over break at James' parents enormous tudor in Godric's Hollow. "Right Remus?"

"Hmm?" He snaps out of his focus on his math problem. "Oh yeah…James is planning it, naturally."

"See," I say, making to return to my textbook. Marigold looks unsatisfied with this answer.

But before she gets a chance to prod more information out of us, the Portrait Hole opens with a bang. It was Sirius . I quickly look down. I can feel the burning sensation of everyone's eyes on me. I know they're watching, waiting for me to say something to him. To invite him over, even.

I make eye contact with Remus, and he nods his head in encouragement. Emmeline is beside him, raising a brow at me. But my tongue seems to freeze, and I say nothing. I watch him deliberately not look over at us, headed for the boys' dormitory staircase.

I cover up my face with a book, any book, to shield it from my friends' view. I _cannot_ deal with this right now, especially being in such a foul mood already.

But before even another minute goes by, I hear the aggressive slam of a book on the table. "Alright, that's _it_! For the love of Godric Gryffindor, I am tired of this. You two are driving me absolutely mad."

And suddenly someone has grabbed my wrist, disentangling me from my book, and is dragging me across the room. I realize that it's Emmeline, her raven hair flowing up and down as she forces me up. She drags me over to Sirius, who has only just barely started to ascend the steps and, with her free hand, grabs his shoulder and pulls him vehemently backwards.

"What—what the bloody hell are you doing?" Sirius exclaims, trying to fight here off. But she somehow manages to manacle the both of us and pulls us towards the portrait hole.

"Em, what are you _doing_ -" I yell, trying to claw her hands from around my wrist.

But Emmeline's grasp, whether from anger or pure willpower, holds strong as she drags us forth down the corridor.

"Seriously Ems, stop this-" I beg. I exchange a nervously panicked look with Sirius. Both of us have abandoned our ignoring to share in the bizarre moment, it seems.

"Let us go, Ems, seriously," Sirius pleads darkly. But she isn't listening. She was sure bloody stronger than her skinny doelike frame would have suggested.

" _I need an empty room, I need an empty room…._ " I hear her hurriedly whisper to herself as we walk (or stumble and thrash about, more like) down the hall.

Then, as if out of thin air, there is a large wooden door in front of a long expansive stone wall. She opens it, take a quick look around, and nods as if she is approving it. And chucks us through.

I stumble forth and have to catch myself on one of the large stone pillars.

I turn back around to see Emmeline standing in the doorway with her arms crossed. Before closing the door, she looks straight at us commandingly and practically orders, "You. Both. Talk. Now." and with that she slams the door. I hear a loud and ominous thud and click. The lock.

Sirius immediately tries to turn the handle, but it's no use. We're locked in. I don't know what enchantments she used on the other side of the door, but it's surely not budging.

"Emmeline! Let us out!" I shout. All I hear is a muffled reply of "Not until you two prats talk it out!" followed by footsteps sounding more and more distant.

"She really is leaving us here," I hear Sirius mutter behind me.

I turn slowly back around. There really isn't any avoiding it now.

He's standing there, his face angry and bemused simultaneously. He's pursed one corner of his mouth. His long dark hair, disheveled from the struggle, falls over his eyes. He stares back at me expectantly.

"So. Sirius." I say hesitantly. I am not prepared for this in the slightest.

"Aurora." he replies, his voice noticeably casual in comparison.

There is an awkward silence as we stand there in the sunlit expansive stone room, completely alone and at a loss for words.

"So you want to explain yourself?" I say finally, crossing my arms. _Might as well get straight to it_.

"Explain what?" He answers nonchalantly, as if he had no idea why I had been avoiding him.

"Why you've done my head in all year?"

"Rora-" He attempts to come towards me, his arm outstretched for mine. But I jerk away.

I take a deep breath. "I want to know how you really feel."

"What do you mean?" he asks lazily. It's like he's _trying_ to be difficult.

I try to form a coherent explanation. But my mind is in a state of shock that this moment is even happening.

"You made it seem, at the Shack party, like you…wanted me." I start hesitantly, not meeting his gaze. "And then…" My voice is slow, and tangled. I can't seem to achieve rationality.

"Then what?" He interrupts impatiently.

"You go and snog other girl as if…" I can feel my throat swelling up. Why was this so damned difficult to say? This isn't coming out right.

"…as if you don't care about me….as if I don't matter." I mutter pathetically. Not exactly the angle I would have planned for.

"Rora, that's not what happened-" He answers firmly, a certain tone of pleading in his voice.

"Really? Then what, from your point of view, _happened_?" I say. I can begin to feel that edge of anger build in my stomach.

He seems at a loss for words, biting his lip.

"You bloody kissed me, you twat!" I'm suddenly shouting now. Hot tears are pooling and threatening to pour if I'm not careful. The frustrations and tension of the past week is starting to collect and surface. "You kissed me and then I turn around for a few minutes and you're snogging Marlene? _Really_?"

"That's not how it happened, I-"

"That's exactly how it happened!"

I'm so angry. Angry at him for everything. For making me believe he thought more of me. Of us. For leading me on. For embarrassing me. For squashing my heart and splitting it. For ruining our friendship.

"Rora, listen to me. I was just drunk and fooling around. I never said…I never meant-"

He stops mid sentence. But it's too late; the hurts already been done.

"So you were just fooling around with me then?" I snap. "It meant nothing to you?"

There is a silent moment. I can tell his frustration is building, but I just want to disappear into the floor.

"You don't even know what you do to people, do you?" I say after another minute, my voice barely above a whisper. I fear my hands will start to tremble with how overwhelmed and angry I am.

He lets out a growling sigh and throws his hands up, hooking his arms behind his head as he turns around in frustration. "And what does that mean? "

"It means that here you are, acting like you never did anything to make me feel this way, when you were hinting and flirting all year." My voice rises. "But I'm done I can't deal with this if you're going to be so stupid-"

This seems to set him off. He's turned quickly back around, his face riddled with anger and shock. "Stupid? Flirting? Me?" He practically shouts at me. "Don't act like you haven't been doing the same thing, Rora."

"I have not been flirting. If anything, it's only in response to what you've been doing to me!" I yell back

"What? Rora, this is hardly just my fault! If you hadn't-"

"Hadn't what?" I demand, suddenly finding my guts. "Hadn't thought like a NORMAL person that maybe since you kissed me and flirted that MAYBE you liked me more than a friend? Am I the crazy one here?"

At this he let's out a sort of strangled growl of irritation and sits down on the ledge near the window, his head in his hands.

I cross my arms again and turn away, staring at the ceiling and willing my eyes to stay dry.

We've never fought like this, ever. It's like we're behaving like two completely different people. I was so unprepared for this conversation. It's not fair. This isn't how it was supposed to go.

"Look, I just, I can't-" I try to start. But it's not use, my voice has finally cracked and I feel the warm moisture grow in my eyes. I try to hide my face but Sirius has noticed. He immediately gets up and comes to me.

He gently takes my hands from my face. Though I am still overcome with anger, I let him. He slowly takes my chin in his hand and guides my face towards him, so I have no choice but to stare at him.

And before I can even stop him or figure out what's going on, he fiercely and roughly kisses me.

I don't even have time to react, to punch or slap him. He's locked his arms around my waist and is pulling me closer. Something seems to erupt from inside me. My rational thoughts have flown out the window. I don't stop him.

I can feel his tongue, his warm lips, he hand at the small of my back. The smell of his hair, the warmth of his body. Closer than I've ever been to him.

I take strangled breaths in between our kisses as he gently pushes me back so we're squeezed against the wall.

I grab my hands onto his dark locks that have fallen over his brows and closed eyes. I pull his face even closer to mine. I can feel him smirk beneath my kiss but I don't open my eyes. I want to focus on the taste. The touch. The smell of this moment.

There is a crash behind us. We jerk apart, as if electrified by a curse.

Lily and James have erupted through the doorway, gued together in a ferocisous embrace. They freeze when they notice the pair of us sharing an equally ferocious embrace.

"Oh," James stumbles, clearly surprised at the room being occupied. "Sirius! Aurora?"

Sirius immediately puts me down and backs away. "We were just talking,"

"Yes, I can see that…" James stares pointedly at me, a smirk playing on his lips. Lily's eyes are wider than I've ever seen, looking as equally embarrassed as I feel. I want to disappear into the floor. I can feel the hot rush of blood filling my cheeks.

"Sorry, we'll go…" I mutter, eyes downcast, removing my arms from Sirius.

"Yes, off you go. It's nearly nightfall and you two know better than to be out of your Common Room with the curfew in effect," James agrees, putting on the airs of Head Boy.

"Oh and does that exclude you two, then?" Sirius says, raising a brow. Lily flushes.

"We're just, um, inspecting the rooms on our rounds," she tries to explain, rather lamely.

"Well, we'll leave you to it, then," Sirius takes the opportunity to leave and brusquely walks out the now open door. 

"Yes, goodnight," I say awkwardly as I hurry out, not looking behind me.

But when I look left and right outside the doorway, I find Sirius has disappeared almost completely.

As I desperately rush towards the Common Room, I feel a strange sensation come over me. It was somewhere between relief and confusion.

"What the fuck?" are the first words I utter (or rather practically shout) at Emmeline when I enter our dorm room.

Emmeline and Marigold look up, taken aback at this unusual spurt from me. Marigold is sitting at her desk, fixing her hair. She turns around frantically at my shout, quite comically, her arms still above her, with two hairpins stuck between her swollen lips.

"What?" Marigold asks though the pins.

But my eyes are trained on Emmeline, who is sitting on her bed, nonchalantly reading through her notebook as if she had not only a quarter of an hour pervious forcibly kidnapped her two best friends. "So how'd it go?" she asks casually, not looking up.

I feel my anger coming back full force. "Why did you do that, Em?" I demand. "That was not okay."

Emmeline looks up with a raised brow towards me. "Because if _I_ didn't, _you two_ sure as bloody hell wouldn't."

I scoff. "I wasn't ready, it was too soon-"

"It's been over _a week_ , Rora," she says firmly. "It was time, whether you liked it or not."

"Wait what happened?" Marigold interjects, clearly upset at not begin let in on the secret. She lets her hair down and scuttles over to us.

I look back over at her and say with mock chipperness, "Oh nothing, I just was forcibly confined with Sirius Black in a room in which we shouted, yelled, fought and snogged only to be broken apart by _Lily and James_."

Emmeline's head snaps back towards me at this. "Wait, you two _snogged_?"

"Yes, right after we took turns shouting at one another," I say exasperatedly.

"Just snogged? No passionate makeup shag?" Marigold looks disappointed almost, ignoring the fighting part of my explanation. I am too flustered to be irked at this, like I probably usually would be.

"No, Marigold. No shagging. Because luckily for me, Lily and James showed up," I say sarcastically. I still can't even believe the last fifteen minutes even happened.

"Wait what? Explain!" Marigold squeals.

"One minute we were shouting and then the next he damn near bloody captures me and we're kissing. I don't get it." I say with a shrug. "I don't even think I realized what happened. I sure wasn't expecting to kiss-"

"Did you object?" Emmeline asks carefully.

"Well…not exactly." I recall how I practically flung myself at him.

"How did it go from fighting to snogging?" Marigold exclaims in confusion.

"I don't even know!" I have now started to develop a splitting headache. This was all too much. I fling myself backwards on my bed and close my eyes.

"Rora, wait. Did you and Sirius end on good terms?" Emmeline prods further.

This snaps me back up. "Good terms? Um, what do you think? He disappeared before I could even process what was happening-"

"Rora!" Emmeline says with an unmistakably reprimanding tone. "You are impossible. So all that was for nothing? You haven't resolved _anything_?

I give her an incredulous look. " _No_ , Emmeline. We haven't. Because that's not how normal people go about resolving problems!"

Emmeline narrows her eyes at me. "Well, we'll just have to try harder next time."

"There will be no next time," I warn her. "Let me handle it, okay?"

Emmeline gives a sharp laugh. "Except you can't. That's what I'm here for."

I scoff at this and turn back around on my side and pull the covers over my head. "Whatever. Goodnight. I'm going to sleep and hoping that when I wake up, this will have all been some terrible nightmare."

"Oh, if I had been the one snogging Sirius Black I certainly wouldn't call it a nightmare-" I hear Marigold tease with a giggle.

I roll my eyes and practically shout, " _Goodnight,_ Marigold."


	10. Protect You

"POTTER, STOP THIS AT ONCE!"

Professor McGonagall's shrill voice is echoing with rage across the first floor corridor. And it's not even past noon yet.

I am standing with Remus and Emmeline at my side, a mere ten feet from where Severus Snape is currently being levitated forcefully from his ankles for all of the hall to witness. My book-bag has been abandoned onto the floor below me, and my hands are clasped together with nerves as I gaze up at the disastrous scene ahead of me.

James, who has his wand outcast up at Snape with a look of loathing plastered across his whitened face, doesn't budge. Instead, he gives his wand a little casual tip that sends Snape jerking this way and that.

"Potter, I'm warning you!" McGonagall shrieks again. I want to walk up and slap some sense into him. We had only been passing by when we noticed the commotion and came running over.

"James, please, cut it out, mate!" I hear Remus plead from my side.

" _He hurt her_!" James replies, not unlocking his gaze from Snape, who is panic stricken and silent above us.

I have a feeling I know who 'her' is.

"I won't let him hurt her," he says again. I notice his wand is trembling slightly. I haven't seen James this distraught in...well, ever.

"Regardless," McGonagall says warningly. "You must put the boy down or I will be forced to use magical force on you, Potter!" She takes her out long wand out from her emerald cloak.

James, looking conflicted, darts his eyes from the professor and back up to Snape.

" _Now_ Potter, or I will revoke your Head Boy status this instant!"

"Frankly, I'm surprised they haven't already," Emmeline mutters offhandedly to my side.

James looks like he is about to give in when there is a loud shout from behind us. We all whip around to see a certain Head Girl.

"James! What the bloody hell are you doing?" Lily's shocked face is reddened with apparent fury.

She marches to James and practically tackles him, grabbing the wand from his hands. Snape immediately drops to the ground with a painful sounding thud.

"You _dare_ -you _git_ , I can't believe-" Lily is fuming as she repeatedly slaps James, on his shoulder, chest and head.

"Oi, stop it Evans. I was _defending_ you!"

"Defending me? Oh isn't that a lovely _pile of tripe_?"

"Evans-Potter-both of you stop this at once!" McGonagall attempts to break up their scuffle, but it is no use; Lily has altogether dominated James and has thrown him against the wall, her wand pointed intimidating at him.

"I swear on all that is sacred, Potter-" She looks ready to hex him.

"I have never seen a Head Girl and Boy behave as such!" McGonagall says in shock. She disarms Lily with a quick flick of her wand and does the same with James. Snape smiles vindictively from the ground.

"Blimey, I'm only giving that _prick_ -" James pauses when he says this to glance with disgust at Snape. "-what he's deserved ever since speaking to Lily again -"

" _No_ James, you don't get to decide that. For the last time, _stay out of this,"_ Her voice is pitiless and firm as she turns on her heel and walks over to help Snape up. The two of them walk off, the back of Lily's auburn head seeming to taunt James in defiance.

"Well, that's just jolly good then, eh?!" James shouts deadpan after her. "Go on," But the gathering of students has begun to dissipate as people move back onto their regularly scheduled day. McGonagall, however, has not forgotten.

"Potter, over here. Now." She gestures with her pointer finger to him. Her lips are pursed and white with anger. James, looking purposefully defiant, strides confidently over to her and follows her down the corridor (no doubt to a detention room) as if they were merely heading to lunch.

"What a bloody idiot," Emmeline mutters as we turn.

Remus is silent and troubled.

"I thought he was over that stupid phase…" I pick my bookbag back up and swing it over my shoulder. The weight of it feels particularly burdensome today. "I thought he had put his dim bullying tricks behind him last year."

"I know…he hasn't pulled any of this rubbish since last year…" Emmeline agrees.

"I just don't get it…." I continue, staring vaguely onto the floor as I walk. "I really thought he was growing up…he's been so great lately," I recall our conversations in the kitchens and forest; he had seemed so genuine and different than the pompous boy I was usually used to being somewhere between annoyed and amused with.

Remus gives a short, humorless laugh. "Well perhaps to _you._ But to _me_ he's been a bloody wreck. He hasn't stopped talking about Evans at all lately, it feels like. And ever since Snape and her started talking again…"

"Wait, is that was this was about? Lily being friends with Snape again?" Emmeline interrupts furtively.

Remus shrugs. "Isn't it always?"

"Since when has Lily been friendly with Snape again? I thought that was over last year?" I ask. Last year was the last time I had ever seen Lily talk to Snape. Something had happened between James, Sirius and Snape, something that was never fully explained. I had been able to surmise it involved a dangerous prank that could have left Snape injured, but I was never able to find out what. And Lily, it seemed, had finally given up on her friendship with him, then, too.

"James told me that he saw her talking to him the other day, and now apparently he's hurt her somehow?" Remus explains as we turn the corner and head down the dimly lit corridor that leads to the Transfiguration classroom. The room is lined in cream colored candles sitting in rusted sconces on the light stone walls and already crowded with students waiting for the lesson to start. This was one of the rare classes all four Marauders and I shared.

"But what did Snape do to hurt her?" Emmeline wonders, recalling James angry outburst.

"I dunno…" Remus replies. "I feel like something's going on that we haven't been told about…"

Emmeline and I take our seats in the middle row of tables. Remus, however, hangs back. I know he's waiting for Sirius to come so they could sit in the back together. As they always did. As we used to.

I sigh to myself as I sit down and take out my textbook. Peter arrives now, looking worried. He makes eye contact with Remus and shrugs, before taking a seat with him.

"I feel so bad for James…do you think they'll take away his badge?" Emmeline whispers nervously to me as we wait for class to start.

"I'd be surprised if they didn't," I reply darkly. "James has gotten so many detentions already…"

But I quickly tighten my mouth and stop talking as Lily Evans enters the classroom. Her face is still red and she's clearly been crying. McGonagall is fast on her heels, looking sternly but sympathetically after her, dragging James behind her. She silently points to the open chair next to Peter and Remus and James obligingly takes a seat, his face still set in anger.

"My apologies for the lack of promptness on my part, class," McGonagall says firmly, not raising her bespectacled gaze to us but rather immediately opening her book at the blackboard.

"Only McGonagall would apologize for lack of _promptness_ ," Emmeline says out of the corner of her mouth. I have to bite my lip to keep from inappropriately smirking.

"I'm sure you all saw the excitement out in the corridor," the Professor continues wryly. "But I assure you it has been handled so we may now all desist with the chattering." She raises a sculpted brow at the lot of us and there is a wave of silence.

"Now, let us please shift our focus to page ninety-five…" The Transfiguration teacher raises her long wand and waves it over her book, which nosily flips its yellowed pages to the correct section.

I notice Lily sink a bit in her chair. I exchange a pointed glance with Emmeline as we quietly and dutifully open our own books.

"So, how many detentions are you getting?" I hear Remus ask James. I steal a glance to my side to judge his response, but James is still silently fuming, and makes no attempt at a reply. Remus gives me a worried look. This couldn't be good.

After nearly a quarter through the lesson, as we are all watching McGonagall give a tutorial of a Switching Spell, the classroom door creaks open loudly again. I immediately crane my neck over to see what numbskull has arrived so late to class.

And it's Sirius. He surreptitiously tries to sneak his way into a seat, tiptoeing. But naturally, McGonagall has noticed.

"Charming us with your presence, Mr. Black?" she calls over to him, in an almost bored tone, without lifting her eyes from her book.

"My apologies, Professor. I got caught up," Sirius says in a rather faux-gracious tone. But I notice his face is darkened and there is a hint of anger in his expression.

"Well perhaps you will avoid getting caught up next time in order to arrive promptly. Five points from your House, Black. And I will hear no more of your nonsense excuses, as I have heard quite enough tripe today already," The Professor replies sternly. There is an audible wave of groans from my fellow Gryffindors at this. We had only just pulled ahead of Ravenclaw this morning, and now this coupled with the points we had undoubtedly lost due to James' idiocy meant we would be in last place for sure.

But I'm too distracted, surveying his odd expression. Something's not right…

He takes his seat grumpily on the other side of James, who still is staring absently and angrily off into space. Sirius matches his expression. It would almost be amusing to see these two boys, sitting like twin statues, if I wasn't so worried about the pair of them.

I am focusing on scribbling down notes on the lecture, taking in McGonagall's words on the Piertotum Locomotor spell.

"The spell's main success comes in the combination hand movement and voice, which is defined by a rhythmic ascension and unwavering diction. Now class, I will demonstrate before turning it over to you," McGonagall says, drawing her wand and pointing it at a miniature knight chess piece. The class waits in in anticipation and intrigue as we survey our teacher

" _Piertotum Locomotor_!" McGongall commands, waving her wand up and down in decisive succession. The chess piece springs to life and proceeds to draw its sword at the class in an apparent attempt at intimidation.

"There we are, quite easy on such small objects. This is how one would enchant and program a Wizard's Chess Set," McGongall says as Ricky Frell lifts his feet to protect from the charging knight's sword as it prances around the room. The class laughs.

"Can you use this spell for anything larger?" Ricky asks, looking nervously at the chess piece as though the thought of anything larger was nightmarish.

McGongall mercifully utters the counter-spell and the knight returns to its frozen form. "Yes, but the larger the object, the more difficult the spell becomes. One must have a careful hand and years of experience to animate, say, a full sized statue, for example,"

I see Peter turn to James and hear him mutter, "Or perhaps one of those Suits of Armor? Can you imagine the havoc we could wreak by enchanting those?" But James, who normally would have thrilled at the idea of such a prank, barely acknowledges this and just gives a shrug.

"Now, I have prepared a chess piece for each of you to practice on, and you should have succeeded in animating your piece by the end of the lesson in forty-five minutes!" McGonagall says as she levitates a large trunk with her wand, which opens to reveal twenty chess pieces which begin distributing themselves to our desks. I am given a King, and I take out my willowy wand to begin my attempts.

"Please come to my desk when you have succeeded in animating your piece so I can mark you off!" McGongall shouts over the clatter of students practicing.

" _Piertotum Locomotor!"_ I say, trying to make my voice as commanding as the Professor's had been, mimicking her hand motions. My King vibrates slightly, but doesn't spring to life the way the Knight had. I bite my lip, trying to focus, and try again with little luck.

I give a sidelong glance to James, who is only half-heartedly waving his wand at his Queen piece. 

"You know, this would be bloody easier if mine would sit _still,"_ I hear Remus groan, as his half-enchanted piece's legs carry its frozen top half around in circles on his desk.

"Yes, got it!" Emmeline shouts in triumph, as her Knight prances boastfully around our table, knocking over my piece as it does. I stare hopelessly at my little King, his crown chipped slightly from the collision.

Finally, many attempts later, we all manage to animate our pieces and McGonagall lets us go, but not before harshly reminding us of our looming term essay due in a month.

"You go on ahead to lunch, Em," I say outside the classroom. Emmeline opens her mouth to protest, clearly thinking I was going to skip another meal in favor of avoiding Sirius, but I quickly stop her. "I need to talk to Sirius, I'm worried about him," I whisper. She raises a knowing brow and gives me an approving nod.

"I'm so proud. Don't sod this up again, Rors," She says in a voice that I can only assume she means to be encouraging. And so we part ways outside the classroom, a I hang back, waiting for Sirius to come out.

But when the Marauders finally come out, Sirius looks past me, not stopping when I give him a meaning look. I notice James is missing, and I peer back into the classroom to find him being lectured again by McGonagall, not doubt about his display before class. When I turn back, the three other boys are already halfway down the corridor.

"Sirius?" I call, picking up my pace to follow them. "Can I talk to you?"

He stops in his tracks. The other boys give me surprised and questioning looks as they turn around to face me. Sirius, his face still anxious and preoccupied, gives them a nod and hesitantly heads back towards me.

"What do you want?" He mutters, raising a haughty brow as we move to the side of the corridor, near the window.

"Sirius, I just…" I am taken aback, unsure where to begin, as I twiddle my fingers nervously. My mind flashes to our kiss, his prompt departure, and his troubled face today. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay,"

He gives me a confused glance. "Just peachy, thanks," he says sarcastically.

"Well, you look upset," I say impatiently. "I can tell when something's up with you,"

He contemplates this, his face still as tense as before. But he doesn't immediately reply so I continue apprehensively, "It's no secret Emmeline's been urging me to talk to you, and after the other day in the Room of Requirement, I'm just…confused about us still,"

"About us?" he repeats.

"Well yes, I suppose I'm still a bit confused about the, er, kiss, and if it upset you…" I try explain.

"Upset me?" He repeats again unhelpfully. His voice is strained, and he has to pause to take a breath before continuing, "I wish you didn't say things like that, Rora."

I pause in disbelief. "Like what, exactly?" My voice mirrors the strain in his.

Creases form in his forehead as he growls, "Like…you know everything,"

Surprise etches itself onto my face. "I hardly think that's what I'm saying-"

"That's what it sounds like," He cuts me off.

"Well I'm just trying to make sure you're alright, okay?" I snap, offended at his apparent outrage.

"You think I'm alright?" He laughs humorlessly and runs a hand through his long hair.

"Well, that's why I'm checking up on you-" I begin, becoming annoyed now.

"You don't need to check up on me. You have no idea what's up with me, okay?" He snaps. "You have no idea what it's like to be me,"

"Sirius, I'm not saying-" I try to explain, but he cuts me off again.

"Just forget about it. I'm fine. Carry on with your day. I'll see you later," he waves me off as he turns on his heel, and I notice him taking out a flask from his robe pocket as he stalks off.

My mind is reeling in bewilderment. I have to bite back tears from forming in my eyes. Once again, a fantastic success at cooperation and communication done by the infallible Aurora Mockinglow. I shudder at the thought at explaining this mess to Emmeline later…

"You alright, Auora?"

I turn to face James, who has evidently just been freed from McGonagall.

"Don't you have a detention to be serving?" I snap, trying to hastily wipe my eyes in embarrassment. James face is a bit hurt and surprised, but I notice him glance at my tear-moistened cheeks in pity.

"Everything's gone to shit," he murmurs darkly, following Sirius's path away from me down the corridor. "Absolutely everything,"

* * *

Later on, I am sulking in the corner of the Common room, my nose hidden behind my thick clothbound Transfiguration textbook while Marigold helps Emmeline practice the _Piertotum Locomotor_ spell beside me.

"Merlin, if I can't get this bloody thing tap dance in the next thirty seconds, I will hex something," Emmeline grumbles through her teeth as she struggles to enchant her hairbrush. I can see Marigold try not to laugh.

"This is why I for one am so glad I'm not taking Transfiguration this term," Marigold says. "I'd be bloody useless at this stuff,"

"And yet you find Divination stimulating?" Emmeline snaps scornfully.

"Madame Serfina is my mentor," Marigold says seriously. "I have a strong aura,"

Emmeline not-so-subtly rolls her eyes. "And I have a strong desire to hex you,"

"Here, let's just try a different object…how about this bookend?"

I try to drown out their arguing as I read, but my mind is not taking in much, so I gaze out of the window for a moment. I see that it has started to snow lightly, the small white flakes flitting past the leaded-glass windows sporadically. I think ruefully of the Astronomy work I meant to get done tonight, which would now be impossible in this weather.

"What are you lot planning on doing for Christmas?" I ask suddenly, interrupting their chatting.

Emmeline looks round to me quickly, her cropped black hair swiveling around her neck as she does. "Well, I'm not staying here, that's for sure,"

"Me neither, not with intruders and security," Marigold agrees. "I thought I'd visit home and then go by James' like usual,"

I sigh. I had forgotten about the Marauder's annual Christmas party James held at his parents house in Godric's Hollow. All of the Gryffindors in our year who left Hogwarts for the holidays and who were lucky enough to live close to James would be there.

"You?" Marigold asks me curiously.

"Yeah, I'm going home and then I suppose to James'," I mumble reluctantly. "But I can't guarantee I'll be in a good mood for it,"

"Well after your _second_ disastrous conversation with Sirius, it's a wonder you haven't buried your head in the sand by now," Emmeline gripes.

"I tried, its not my fault he decided to bite my head off!" I retort, shooting her a glare from behind my book.

"Well, maybe you should have snogged him again, that seemed to work last time," Marigold points out obligingly. I give her an equally mean glare.

"Except it didn't," I reply with acid in my voice. "If you haven't noticed,"

"Certainly would have been worth a try,"

"Shut it, Goldilocks,"

"Now now children," Emmeline warns with her usual reprimand.

"Look, let's change the subject," I say.

"You brought it up," Emmeline murmurs.

"Well, what about that Gargoyles gig in London over break?" I say, ignoring her.

Emeline perks up at this. "Right, I forgot about that. Still want to go?"

"Well, Sirius had offered for us to stay with him and James at the house afterwards," I say slowly. "Though I'm unsure the offer still stands,"

" _Sod_ that, its James house, not Sirius's. James will still let us tag along," Emmeline says confidently.

But I'm skeptical. "Well, I'll have to speak with James about it, but he was not in such a great mood after class today either."

"Rightly so, after his immature display today," Emmeline rolls her eyes. "Are we the only sane ones around this bloody castle?"

"Apparently," Marigold sighs.

"These bloody boys will be the death of me…" I mutter.

"They'll be the death of themselves if they don't start acting like adults soon," Emmeline says, returning to her bookend. "Now, let me try this bloody spell again…"

But Emmeline doesn't get a chance to continue, because we suddenly hear the opening of the portrait hole and look up. It's Marlene McKinnon, followed by Ricky Frell. She looks absolutely distraught, he hair in a state and her puffy red eyes look like they've shed tears recently. She is clasping a letter in her hand as she dashes up the dormitory stairs. Ricky, his large green eyes concerned, calls desperately after her but she's already gone.

"What happened?" asks Marigold immediately. Ricky looks over at us and says quietly, "She just got a letter…It's from St. Mungo's. Her mum's been admitted…she was attacked by Death Eaters last night."

Marigold puts a hand to her mouth with a gasp. "Why?" she asks, her voice cracking. "I've met her mum before, she's the sweetest…how could they?"

"She wasn't given more information beyond that, I'm afraid," Ricky answers. "I'm going to go to Professor McGonagall, I've got to let her know, for Marlene. I think she's going to try to leave to go see her." He looks nearly as upset as Marlene did.

I am suddenly feeling quite ill. The portrait hole opens again, and Remus enters, looking as worried as I feel as Ricky rushes past him.

Remus gives us a questioning glance as he sees our pale face.

"Marlene's mum was attacked last night," I explain, trying not to attract the attention of the younger students around.

Remus' eyes widen in fear. "Death Eaters?" he whispers.

I nod solemnly. Emmeline exchanges an apprehensive glance with Remus, her dark eyes worried.

"They've taken her to St. Mungo's," I say.

"Why would they attack her?" Marigold asks absently, her eyes brimming with tears. "I can't imagine her being involved with that lot,"

"She's Muggle-born." Emmeline says flatly. We exchange looks, knowing she has voiced what we all were fearing to be true. Her voice is low and concerned as she continues, "Marlene told me once…"

"This is all too horrible, I'm going to go get her some flowers right away," Marigold says quickly, getting up and dashing to our dormitory.

My head is swimming with thoughts. I knew these attacks were happening. I had heard about them all summer. But suddenly knowing someone directly connected sent a terror through my spine like I had never before experienced. I swallow and gaze out the window to my left, seeing the veiled stars shine weakly down towards us. I am suddenly stricken with panic. I needed to write home as soon as possible…if Marlene's mother was targeted, so could my mother…or my father by association…or even _me_ ….

I look back to Remus. "I can't bloody handle this, Remus. None of it. First Sirius, now this…"

Remus stares at the floor for a moment before continuing, "That explains…" he trails off his brow furrowed.

"What" I probe.

"Sirius," He says, meeting my eyes again. "He's been a wreck today, and I left him just now, he looked in a bad way, he must have heard…"

Panic rises in my throat as I desperately ask, "Where did he go? Do you know?" Something was telling me to go to him, now.

"No idea," Remus says in confusion, but I'm already out the Portrait Hole, ignoring the muddled yells from my friends behind me. My mind is racing as I try to think where he could be, the single image of that flask on my mind. For some reason, I head straight to the Astronomy Tower.

When I reach the top of the many flights of stairs, I am short of breath and my chest is heaving, but I don't care. I find Sirius, slouched down against the railing, holding the flask in his hand. His face is in his hands.

"Sirius," I say, going to place myself beside him, taking in the strong smell of alcohol. The tension and anger I had felt towards him earlier melts away at my relief in finding him (somewhat) safe.

He looks up at me, tears streaming down from his grey eyes. "I'm so sorry, Rora. So sorry…"

"Shhh," I try to comfort him.

"Rora I'm all messed up. Everything's gone wrong," he chokes and winces, after taking a drink from his bottle.

"No, this isn't your fault," I say.

But his eyes widen. "It was her,"

"Who?" I ask softly, holding his arm.

"My cousin. My delightful cousin," he slurs with a humorless smile.

"What are you talking about?" I try to take the flask from him as I do, but he resists.

"Bellatrix. She attacked Marlene's mum, it was her," he coughs and lets out a strangled sigh, and puts his head back into his hands.

"What? How do you know?" I ask desperately.

But Sirius doesn't answer my question. "I can't escape them. My family…" He slurs, taking another deep drink.

"Sirius this isn't your fault," I say firmly. "This has nothing to do with you,"

"Yes it does," I can see his eyes have become watery. "It's all my fault,"

"You. Are. Not. Your. Family." I repeat. I want so badly for him to stop this toxic way of thinking, of blaming himself. I am terrified of the way he clutches so desperately to his bottle of whiskey. I am terrified of what that means.

"Lancaster…" Sirius mutters, turning away from me.

"What about Lancaster?" I demand, suddenly confused. "What does he have to do with anything?"

"Yesterday, after our detention, he cornered me...threatening me,"

"What?" Fury rises in my stomach.

"He knows things, Rora…" Sirius's speech is becoming increasingly slurred.

"What do you mean?" My anxiety heightens. I had always had a bad feeling about him, it was true, but a Death Eater?

"He was in it with my parents the whole time,"

"In what?" I prod further, fearing his answer.

"He wants to infiltrate Hogwarts from within…to spread the Death Eaters ideology,"

"Sirius, what did he ask you to do?" I ask resolutely.

"He told me to "fulfill the Dark Lord's request of the Pureblood kin", or something…just all kinds of bollocks…" He trails off.

"What the bloody hell does that mean?" I ask.

"He wanted me to join the Death Eaters," Sirius responds simply. "Or…something terrible would happen, as a warning."

"So you think he ordered Bellatrix to…to…?" I can't bare to finish the sentence.

"He ordered Bellatrix to attack someone close to me if I didn't agree, as a warning," Sirius says. "My parents are behind it too…this summer they wanted to recruit me to the Death Eaters, too…"

My mind flashes to our first day back at Hogwarts, him and I sitting by the lake…Sirius had been telling me why he had left his home.

 _"My mother and father they…wanted me to do something. Something I would abhor."_

 __I lean back against the railing, trying to process this. "So Marlene's mum was targeted,"

Sirius nods, his face still screwed up in pain and despair. "He must have found out from my parents that I had spent time with Marlene's family over the summer, when I was avoiding being home. And it's all my fault,"

I try not to let my sudden twinge of jealousy hinder my sense upon hearing this. "But Sirius you have to tell Dumbledore, the Ministry needs to know that Lancaster is involved with the Death Eaters," I urge quickly.

"No," Sirius shakes his head frantically. "Lancaster threatened my brother, if I tell"

"Regulus?"

"When I told him to sod off, that I wanted no part in their War, that I'd already moved out, that I'd go to Dumbledore, he said he'd offer Regulus up to the Dark Lord himself,"

"He can't, I won't let him," I hiss, making to get up. I had to tell someone, there was no way this could stand. My hate for Lancaster threatens to boil over. I wanted to strangle him, to hurt him, to cause him the same pain he had caused Marlene and her family and Sirius.

"No Rora! Please!" he pleads, pulling me back. "I have to figure this out on my own,"

"How?" I ask weakly. "They might order an attack someone else!"

"I don't know, but I have to handle this. It's my battle to face," Sirius says desperately.

"How am I meant to carry on? Just go to his lessons like nothing's changed?" I ask incredulously. I would not. I could not.

"That is exactly what we have to do," Sirius says, seeming to sober up as he looks at me intently. "We can't let him know it's gotten to me, or that you know, it could put you in danger,"

"I can't," I shake my head. "I can't act like nothing's changed, there's no way,"

"No, we say nothing. You say nothing. I won't have you in danger," Sirius says, lifting his hand and holding my cheek. I let my gaze meet his desperate grey eyes. I could see he was scared. I could see he was worried. And in a strange way, there was a comfort there for me, that he still cared for me and our friendship. But my fear was real now. My anger was justified.

In defeat, I slump back my shoulders. "Sirius, I'm scared," I whisper, holding back tears.

"I am too, but I have to think of a plan first," Sirius says, taking me in his arms.

And then, without knowing who started it, we're kissing, and it's soft and gentle and so so different than our stupid first kiss in that stupid room on that stupid day and I want to cry and shout and scream and keep kissing him and forget about everything. I didn't want to face the days ahead anymore, I didn't want to return to our common room, to face Lancaster, to live in a world where these things happened.

I gasp for breath and deepen our kiss. I keep my eyes shut, not wanting this blissful moment to end. I could forget the world around us when he kissed me. Even though he was drunk and I was crying and our friends were in danger and it wasn't supposed to go like this, I feel safe for a fleeting moment.

"Rora…I can't…" he says suddenly, breaking our kiss and moving his hands from mine. "I can't do this…"

"Sirius…" I try to begin, to make sense of what we were doing. He eyes bore into mine, filled with sadness and fear and everything I was feeling deeply within my soul at this moment.

"I can't be with you, like this," he whispers, squeezing his eyes shut in some kind of pain that I could only guess at.

I swallow thickly. "Why?" I ask desperately, selfishly, pleadingly.

He opens his eyes. "You deserve more than me, than what I'll get you messed up in," he says sadly. "I'm damaged goods,"

"You aren't," I say urgently. "I can help you, Sirius,"

Sirius looks conflicted. "You can't. No one can anymore,"

"No," I say, stroking his cheek, tears pooling in my eyes. "That's not true,"

"I can't involve you in this, not after what happened to Marlene's family today," Sirius bites his lip as it trembles. "I have to protect you from this,"

"You can't protect me," I whisper. "No one can,"

"I have to try," he says, and gets up, leaving his flask behind on the stone floor.  
I try not to let the sob fighting to leave my chest escape.

"Sirius please, don't," But his mind is made up.

"Then go," is all I can say, my voice callous, as I watch his silhouette walk away from me, and I can barely breathe as I take his empty whiskey flask and angrily chuck it off the side of the railing.

* * *

 _A/N: Thank you so much to everyone that has been reading my story so far! This story has been a long time ambition to finish and I'm finally in a place of inspiration and (free time) that will allow me to progress it and finally move the story along._

 _Please leave reviews of what you think! I welcome constructive criticisms since I want nothing more than to improve my writing and craft the very best characters and plot that I can :)_


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